Five Girls Who Weren't Rose Weasley
by HP-Forever-XX
Summary: After breaking up with Rose Weasley (for the second time in a month) Scorpius Malfoy embarks on a mission to well and truly get over her, and in order to do so, he realises he needs a few pointless flings. Five girls catch his eye, and a series of desperate hook-ups ensue. The only problem? None of them are Rose. (spin-off from 'Rose and Scorpius: A Forbidden Love') [Complete]
1. Prologue

**Chapter 1 – Prologue**

* * *

" _I—" Scorpius looked nervous. "I've not seen anybody exclusively," he explained. "After me and Ebony decided our, err, relationship was probably better to be ended—"_

" _Because of James?" Rose couldn't help but ask, genuinely curious._

 _Scorpius looked at her meaningfully. "Not solely because of James."_

 _Rose suddenly felt hot again._

" _But, err, after Ebony and I ended things, I've not really been with anybody properly."_

 _What was that supposed to mean? Rose hadn't heard much about Scorpius in the year and a half of separation. She hadn't wanted to know who he was seeing—who he was dating. His personal life had been no concern of hers, but now she was curious, purely because of the cryptic way in which he was speaking._

" _What do you mean?" Rose asked gently._

" _I never dated anybody," Scorpius clarified._

" _Did you… kiss anybody?" Rose looked out at the lake so she couldn't look him in the eye._

 _"A few," Scorpius admitted sheepishly._

 _A few?_

 _"Oh," Rose gulped, trying to keep her voice neutral, uninterested. Which girls Scorpius Malfoy had kissed after she and him had broken up was no concern of hers. Her stomach seemed to have dropped, though._

 _"It never meant anything, though," Scorpius continued sadly. "I didn't really think I'd be a good boyfriend to anybody."_

* * *

 _"Tell me about your kisses," Rose ordered._

 _"My kisses?" Scorpius asked innocently._

 _"Yeah, by the lake in Rosewood you told me you'd kissed a few girls. Exactly how many is a few?"_

 _"Why—are you jealous?"_

 _"No! I'm just curious…"_

 _"Alright," Scorpius said calmly. "I think the running total was five in the end, excluding Ebony."_

 _"Five?"_

 _"Does that upset you?"_

 _"N-no," Rose stuttered, feeling suddenly uncomfortable. "No, it's none of my business who you kiss." Everything in her body screamed in protest, though._

 _"None of them meant anything to me. I thought I might be able to distract myself from you if I became involved with somebody else. But I always got cold feet. I could never quite see it through…"_

 _"So you left a trail of broken hearts behind you?" Rose asked light-heartedly, instantly easing up. "Kiss 'em and leave 'em."_

 _"Only because they weren't you," Scorpius countered._

* * *

Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy dated for little more than seven months—an embarrassingly short period of time when you considered how intense the relationship had been. It hadn't come without its setbacks, though. In fact, the teenage whirlwind of a romance Rose and Scorpius had shared had been riddled with more complications than most couples experienced in a lifetime.

In those seven months, they had experienced: Not one, but _two_ breakups, public humiliation, a daily abundance of arguments (not between themselves but with others), jealous third-parties, subtle manipulation behind the scenes, love triangles, cheating, broken promises, _lies_ , threats, scandal and shame, and a front-cover-worthy article in the Daily Prophet surrounding the now infamous Weasley vs. Malfoy trial.

And yet, at the heart of it, there had been something very real and something very pure.

And that had broken both of their hearts when they eventually separated for good in the November of their fifth year at Hogwarts. And though, on the face of, it appeared as though Rose Weasley was bearing the brunt of the breakup—it was she who had been dumped, it was her fragile heart which had been so cruelly broken—Scorpius Malfoy had never felt more miserable and more lost in his whole life.

For a boy who had been happily single for the first five years of teenage-hood, it felt odd for him to have jumped from one intense relationship into another. Although, really, his relationship with Ebony Darkbrow was far from intense. It was artificial and heavily-scrutinised—a mutual unspoken ploy on both their parts. Nonetheless, it was a blessing and a relief to enter from one relationship straight into another. It didn't give him time to mourn his loss.

But he and Ebony had mutually ended things only a few weeks later, knowing they couldn't keep the charade up for too long. Both had ultimately gotten what they wanted, and yet neither could be happy. Their hearts both belonged to another.

And thus, Scorpius Malfoy found himself single for the first time in eight months. Even during his and Rose's first breakup (which had only lasted a couple of weeks), something deep inside of him had known it wasn't the end. He had known, somehow, their breakup was only a temporary setback—he would win her back for the way he'd wronged her.

But this time, _he_ had ended the relationship; he had put the nail in the coffin. He had made it clear to Rose there would be no reconciliation this time, and even if he'd wanted one, there was no way she was now going to let him back into her life. He had betrayed her, he had humiliated her, he had shattered her heart into a million little pieces. And a girl who would come back to him after all that wasn't the kind of girl Scorpius would even have wanted to be with anyway. Rose was smart, and she was strong, and she was desperately better off without him.

Scorpius found no sense of freedom in being suddenly single. He had come to realise, even though it had come out of nowhere, that he was the kind of guy who liked being in a relationship. Before Rose, he had never even kissed a girl (except for her cousin, Lily—but that had been misleading, and he tried to forget about it as often as he could); he hadn't yet been at that age where he'd particularly noticed girls in that way.

But he was nearly sixteen now, he liked girls, and he was single.

And that terrified him.

 _Everybody_ knew the highly public and highly scandalous story of the whole Rose-Scorpius-Ebony affair, and the first time walking through that Hogwarts corridor, fresh from his split with Ebony, Scorpius felt scrutinised. Girls were unsubtly watching him as he passed, and he couldn't be sure why.

Were they mocking him?—he wondered. Idiotic Scorpius Malfoy who'd caused a huge scene by being involved with a girl they'd all known would be a mistake.

Perhaps they pitied him? Poor Scorpius Malfoy who had lost both of the girls most important to him in the space of a few weeks.

Or perhaps, and Scorpius felt both flattered and uncomfortable at the thought, they were… _checking him out?_ Scorpius Malfoy, bad-boy heartbreaker, who had dated two of both the hottest and most unattainable girls in the school. Who now happened to be single…

Scorpius walked by a group of what he thought were fourth-years. They were giggling in that silly way that girls did, whispering behind their hands, hopelessly unsubtle in the way they watched him. Scorpius' heart skipped a beat, and a wild thought popped into his head.

Scorpius thought of James Potter—Rose's arrogant older cousin who had always hated Scorpius and always hated him being with Rose. And yet, despite his arrogance, he had an undeniable charm. James Potter, despite the fact that he'd been 'dating' Evangeline Amberry for almost a year (and was now dating Ebony?—Scorpius didn't really understand what was going on between them), had one too many notches in his belt. For whatever reason, girls found him irresistible, even with his cocky womanising attitude.

Thinking about this, Scorpius turned on his heel, just as he passed the group of giggling girls. Unsure why he was doing it, and too absorbed in it to be embarrassed, he flashed them his most charming smile and winked at them.

Scorpius had turned around again and was too busy casually making his way back down the corridor to see the girls' response. But he certainly heard it.

The giggling had intensified to that of shrieking. A _good_ , flattering, arrogance-boosting sort of shrieking. And as Scorpius sauntered away, knowing they were watching him, probably flustered and red in the face, he couldn't help but smile. He felt powerful; he felt desirable. And he realised that perhaps he'd like being single, after all.

Perhaps getting over Rose Weasley would be easier than he thought.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note:** Welcome back, ScoRose fans! Today (7th July) marks the one-year anniversary of publishing the 200th and final chapter of my huge ScoRose fic 'Rose and Scorpius: A Forbidden Love,' thus completing it after almost a four-year journey, so I thought I'd write something to celebrate. This is just a really brief, light story, which I rather spontaneously decided to write. It's only seven chapters long, and a chapter will be uploaded every day—so the story will be complete in a week, that's all—and it's just a fun little insight into Scorpius' futile attempts to get over Rose during their breakup :')_

 _To newcomers who haven't read the original story, unless you really really want to, I wouldn't recommend reading it in preparation simply in order to read this story (because it's 200 chapters long)—but you can probably read this as a fun little story anyway. There may be some confusion over the context, especially with regards to references about certain events, and the non-canon characters, of course, but I don't think it should be too difficult to understand._

 _Since uploading A Forbidden Love, if you haven't yet read them, I also have a 10-chapter spin-off about Rose and Scorpius' wedding—'The Delightful (and Disastrous) Wedding of Rose and Scorpius'—and am still in the progress of writing 'Honeymoon Avenue'—a story that focuses on Sam and Janey's relationship (mostly) post-Hogwarts. But you don't need to have read them in order to read this! (They actually occur after this story would take place, anyway)._

 _The italicised passages at the start of the chapter are both extracts from A Forbidden Love (to remind you of the context and set the scene)_

 _And that's all I really have to say! I hope you enjoy this short little story—and a shout-out to my Forbidden Love readers! Thanks for sticking with me, guys, I can't believe it's been a year already!?_

 _~ Ever xx_


	2. Girl No 1

**Chapter 2 – Girl No. 1**

* * *

Technically, the first girl Scorpius had kissed after Rose was Ebony. Although, given the fact that he and Rose had still been dating (and that she had watched, in horror, as it happened), he wasn't sure he could really claim his first kiss with Ebony as occurring 'after' Rose.

More, coinciding with…

* * *

 _Kissing Ebony was not like kissing Rose at all. Rose was soft and sweet; she melted into his arms, against his lips. She became one with him._

 _Ebony was strong. Powerful. She knew what she wanted and she took as she pleased._

 _And Scorpius didn't care. He couldn't even think about anything other than how important it was to be kissing her right there and then. For too long there had been that longing between them, that desire to cross over the line, just once, to see what it was like. Years of loyalty and friendship all leading up to that unavoidable moment when they would break boundaries, make history, corrupt every honourable intention they may have once had._

 _Ebony's hands roughly running through his hair, and her breath hot and ragged against his mouth – it was like nothing Scorpius had ever experienced before, least of all with Rose. Rational thinking was gone. Morality was gone. He was so drunk on her words, on her irresistible ability to make him long for her in every possible way, that Rose was simply not strong enough to force her way into his mind._

* * *

Scorpius had never felt more ashamed than he had in that moment. And even though Rose had 'forgiven' him, he wasn't sure he would ever be able to forgive himself. He sometimes wondered, had that kiss with Ebony never happened—would he and Rose still be together?

Even though they had broken up in the aftermath and gotten back together shortly after, that kiss had been the thing that kick-started the series of events that had ultimately destroyed the love story of Rose and Scorpius. Since that moment, nothing between them was ever going to be the same.

And it was all Scorpius' fault.

But he urged himself that he wasn't solely to blame. Whilst, yes, that kiss had certainly contributed to the desolation of his relationship, he and Rose had been on a downward spiral for a long time. That kiss with Ebony had been destined to happen, one way or another, and Scorpius feared, had it not happened when it had, it would only have happened at a different time. And maybe that would have been worse.

Ever since that summer, Scorpius had started to feel for Ebony in a way he never had before, and though he'd never vocalised his thoughts (had never even considered them to himself), he had desperately wanted to kiss her. He had wanted to cross that line—to know what it was like to be with her romantically. It was a want, a longing, a desire, a _need._ And it was never going to end. He was never going to know; he was never going to have that question answered. He would always be wondering, always be longing.

And wouldn't that, more than anything, have compromised his relationship with Rose in the future? How could he ever be happy with one girl, all the while knowing he was desperate to know what it would be like with another?

It was selfish beyond belief, and Scorpius was more ashamed than ever.

Curiosity had proved to be bittersweet, though. Scorpius had _not_ enjoyed kissing Ebony. Well, he _had_ —of course, he had, he was only human!—but it hadn't been at all as satisfying as he'd thought it would be. Even when they'd been 'dating,' something had been off. It hadn't felt right; it hadn't felt real.

Not like it always had done with Rose.

* * *

" _Scorpius, what's wrong?"_

 _"It's over," he choked, sounding dazed._

 _"What is?"_

 _"Rose and I—it's over. I ended things."_

 _Ebony recoiled, with a stunned look on her face._

 _Scorpius had assumed she would be delighted—that she had expected this to happen eventually. She had certainly implied that was the case. Hadn't she been the one who had so readily forced him to choose between the two girls?_

 _"You—you did?"_

 _Scorpius nodded and gave a weak shrug. "You were right. It had become too complicated. I was living a lie—both of us had changed. And part of me, though I'd tried to ignore it, knew my feelings towards you were not strictly innocent. It wasn't fair on Rose, and when you consider all the details," he sighed, "my relationship with you was more important. Whether friendship or..."_

 _He trailed off. He had never spoken aloud of his true feelings for Ebony. He could not deny that Rose still held a significant place in his heart, despite what he'd told her, maybe even more so than Ebony, but this was the right choice. This was the better option._

 _But where did he and Ebony go now? There was nothing holding them back. Would she even want to be with him now the competitive element had been removed? Had she only been drawn to him due to the appeal of being 'The Other Woman?'_

 _They held each other's gaze. Ebony seemed to be considering all he was saying; all he was offering. Scorpius half expected her to tell him she wasn't interested anymore, or that he was a fool for thinking he could have her as more than a friend, or laugh in his face and tell him it had all been a malicious ploy._

 _But she didn't. She wound a hand into his hair, letting her fingers run over his scalp in almost a caress. Rose had never held him in such an intimate way._

 _She pulled his mouth to hers but let their lips linger, a breath apart. He could taste her breath—could feel the gentle tickle of her skin so close to his._

 _Scorpius could only think of Rose, and how he had not shared a proper last kiss with her._

 _He willingly let Ebony put her mouth on his, and it was enough to forget the redheaded Gryffindor. For that moment, he was in blissful ignorance, lips sliding over Ebony's, hands in each other's hair, all passion and recklessness._

 _It was new; it was exciting._

 _It was not Rose._

* * *

"What are you doing for your birthday?"

Scorpius looked up in surprise. He'd been making eyes at a blonde girl across the common room, both of them pretending to be engrossed in their respective textbooks, but coyly looking up every now and again and exchanging flirtatious looks.

Scorpius was only starting to realise how few people he knew—even in his own house. He had only ever needed his handful of close friends—Albus Potter (though he was in Gryffindor), Ebony, of course, and his and Ebony's other Slytherin friends—Jinx, Albireo, sometimes Melody and Marissa, and sometimes Evangeline. And he had had Rose, too, of course, and sometimes her friends (though he'd known they'd always despised him). But that was all he'd ever needed.

Speaking of his Slytherin friends—the three main ones were now crowding around his armchair. It was Jinx who had addressed him.

"I—what?"

"Your birthday's next week, idiot," Jinx scoffed. "What are you going to do?"

"Age another year?" Scorpius answered sarcastically.

Jinx looked like she was about to hit him. Which, knowing her, was probably a very viable outcome.

"Why do I need to do anything?" Scorpius asked, dropping the attitude. "I've never done anything before."

"You've never turned sixteen before," Ebony countered wisely.

"So?"

" _So_ ," Jinx cut in, "it's your sweet sixteen, princess, let's have a ball."

Scorpius scowled at her.

"Not a ball," Albireo assured his roommate, trying to soften the blow of his girlfriend's crass attitude. "Just a party—here, in the common room. Slytherins only."

"It could also be a kind of 'goodbye for the year,'" Ebony said. "You know, if you don't want it to be _all_ for you. Your birthday's the seventeenth—that's only a week before we break up for Christmas. It could be a combination of a Christmas, New Year, end of term, _and_ your birthday party." She looked excited by the prospect and leant in eagerly. "What do you think?"

Something dropped in Scorpius' stomach. "I'm not big on parties…"

"Since _when?"_ Jinx scoffed.

Scorpius didn't want to answer. He'd been to his fair share of parties at Hogwarts—the Slytherins needed very little excuse to throw one—and he found the atmosphere energising and exciting. Quidditch parties, in particular, were always his favourite. Mostly because he was the Slytherin Seeker, and it was often for _his_ success that they were celebrating. He felt like a celebrity—a VIP—and if it was his birthday, that would certainly be the case.

It was just that, the _last_ party Scorpius had been to in the Slytherin Common Room, only about a month ago, had been the one to which he'd invited Rose Weasley amidst their first breakup. They had gotten back together that night. Well, she'd had a bit too much to drink, they'd spent most of the night snogging and dancing, and he'd had to carry her, passed out, back to her own common room (her friends had been furious, thinking he'd taken advantage of her—his legs still ached from the Jelly-Legs Jinx they'd put on him); the following morning, when he'd gone to check on her, they had reconciled and agreed to give their relationship another shot.

And had then broken up a week later.

But nonetheless, that night—that party—had been special to Scorpius, and he didn't think he could return to the scene of the crime so early into his new breakup.

And how was it, Scorpius realised, glancing awkwardly at Ebony, that he'd been through _two_ breakups since that night? Maybe he really _wasn't_ boyfriend material. Maybe it was a good thing he was single—and certain to be for a long time. No one was going to get involved with a boy with a track record like his. No one with any common sense.

Looking at Ebony made Scorpius uncomfortable, but not for the obvious reason. Despite their short-lived romance and abrupt separation, things between them were more than fine. They had returned, almost completely, back to normal, as though that particular period of their overall relationship had never happened. There were no lingering tensions or flirtations or anything of the kind.

No, that wasn't why Scorpius felt uncomfortable in Ebony's presence. "It would be _just_ the Slytherins?" he asked for clarification. "Like, one hundred percent, no exceptions?"

"Of course," Ebony assured him, her black hair hanging over the back of the chair and almost touching him. She looked uncomfortable herself. "I mean, it wasn't like I was going to invite…"

But Ebony trailed off, looking further uncomfortable. Scorpius wondered who she'd been going to say, but also found he didn't want to know. _Rose?_ —a tiny, longing voice asked at the back of his mind.

Jinx sighed, bluntly stating, "We're not going to invite your ex-bitch or any of her bitchy Gryffindor friends. _Relax._ "

Scorpius, Ebony, and Albireo were all mortified.

Scorpius closed his eyes, cheeks turning red. "Jinx, _please_ ," he said weakly. He didn't hold anything against Rose or her friends—how could he when there was no question that _he_ was in the wrong? Unlike herself with regards to him, he didn't hold her in any bitterness or anger. He cared for her— _deeply._ He always would. And he didn't appreciate Jinx talking ill of her.

Ebony looked most uncomfortable, perhaps because she was still supposedly feuding with the girl in question—though how real that was, Scorpius wasn't sure. "Slytherins only—I can make that a firm promise."

"Okay," Scorpius gulped. "It's just, I wasn't sure if you'd be inviting…"

But he found _he_ couldn't say the name either. Not the one Ebony and Jinx had incorrectly assumed, but the other he still felt uncomfortable about.

Ebony seemed to catch on. She, herself, blushed. "I'm not inviting James."

Scorpius nodded to himself, hating the tension in the air, but also relieved with her answer. In some ways, he thought being around James would be more uncomfortable than being around Rose. Not because of James' relationship with Ebony (were they even _in_ a relationship?), but because Scorpius was sure the older boy would confront him about Rose, humiliating him in the way he'd humiliated her.

And Scorpius just wanted to move on. He knew he was in the wrong; he didn't need people reminding him. And he didn't want any reminders of Rose whatsoever. It was painful enough catching sight of her in lessons or the Great Hall or just out and about around the castle. It was going to take some getting used to, that was for sure.

"But I'm sure you can invite Albus if you want," Ebony added.

Scorpius wasn't sure that, even if he invited Albus, he would come. Things between them, though they were better than they had been amidst the first breakup, still weren't great. Scorpius respected that, though. Albus needed to be on Rose's side, of course he did, and he needed to be _physically_ by her side in the way that Scorpius didn't need him to. Not just then, at least. No, Rose needed him more.

"I don't think it's his scene—it's probably best to keep it to literally just the Slytherins this time," Scorpius decided.

Jinx looked thrilled. "So that's a yes? You're saying we can go ahead with this?"

Scorpius sighed. "Just… put less of an emphasis on my birthday, alright? I don't want it to be about _me_ so much as I just want it to be a party."

"Alright, fine, deal," Jinx said with a huge grin. The others looked just as thrilled.

"And, hey," Albireo piped up, slapping a hand down on his roommate's back, "you never know—you might meet someone else! You might get back in the game."

Scorpius seriously doubted that.

* * *

She was a brunette girl, and that's about all Scorpius could have told you. Slytherin, obviously, but whether she was in his year, the year below, the year above or what, he had no idea. All he _did_ know was that she was brunette, Slytherin, and a very messy, very _aggressive_ kisser.

Scorpius wasn't sure how it had happened.

He had been drunk before—he was certain of it—but not like _that_. He was only sixteen, after all. But everything was numb and hazy. It had hit him suddenly. He'd been drinking leisurely, not really enjoying the fact that it was his birthday and actually finding he didn't really have anyone to hang out with. Jinx and Albireo were busy in the corner, and Merlin knows where Ebony was. Scorpius wouldn't have put it past her to have snuck off to see James.

He didn't feel like socialising with new people, nor engaging in idle chat with the people he only somewhat knew. It was turning out to be one of the most boring and uncomfortable birthdays of his life. He couldn't even retreat to his dorm room and go to bed—the noise would keep him up.

So Scorpius had hit the drinks, trying to keep himself preoccupied. The Firewhisky had lulled him into a false sense of security, though. It hadn't taken effect until he was too far gone to do anything about it. Suddenly, everything was blurred, the music was loud, thrumming through his body, and the room was _spinning._

Partially feeling like he might throw up, Scorpius had retreated to a wall near the back of the room, where no one really seemed to be, leaning his head back and hoping his senses would re-heighten.

The girl had come out of nowhere. She hadn't even said anything—they never exchanged words—she was just dancing wildly, clearly as out of it as he was. He'd watched her in amusement for a moment, and then, before Scorpius could say or do anything, she was kissing him, pushing him up against the wall and clutching at his torso.

Scorpius was shocked. Every kiss before then had _meant_ something to him—he had known they were going to happen, if only for a few seconds, before they actually had. His first kiss with Rose, he'd planned meticulously. He had coordinated it all, sending her a note to meet him on the Quidditch pitch at night, wrapped his scarf around her, leant down and kissed her, and it had been beautiful _._ And _magical._

His first kiss with Ebony, too, though it had taken them both by surprise, was something he'd been thinking about for months.

And every time he'd kissed Rose, it had been special and tender. There had been a lingering charge—a _connection_.

But this girl, whoever she was, had simply thrust her tongue into Scorpius' mouth without warning. That in itself was enough to take him by surprise. It had been _months_ before he'd progressed to kissing Rose with tongues. They had built up to it, growing in both their emotional and physical relationship.

And he didn't even know this girl's name.

Scorpius went to push her away in disgust. He couldn't understand if it was just the alcohol or something deeper—something sentimental—that was upsetting him that this stranger had kissed him without any emotional depth.

And maybe it was just the alcohol, or maybe it was something deeper—a need, an _urge_ to move on from Rose—to hurt her, even—but Scorpius didn't push her away. He tried, in might, to deepen the kiss and to lose himself to this stranger in a display of wild, meaningless, animalistic passion. Purely physical, nothing emotional.

And then she was gone. And Scorpius was secretly grateful.

Maybe she'd gotten bored of him. Maybe he wasn't as good a kisser as he'd always thought he was. But the kiss was over as abruptly as it had begun, leaving Scorpius feeling nothing short of dazed and confused.

In some ways, he was grateful. Kissing meant a lot to him—hence why he'd wanted his first kiss with Rose to be so special (and hence why he'd been so angry and appalled when Lily had technically 'stolen' his first kiss), and he'd known that the first girl he kissed after Rose (and after Ebony) would be a big deal. Now, he needn't worry. It was done, it was over; he could move on, without feeling guilty or awkward or like he was emotionally cheating on Rose.

 _Rose._

Each kiss with her had left his heart fluttering, his senses tingling. In fact, he had not known it possible to kiss a girl and not deeply _feel_ it, despite the somewhat stilted kisses he'd shared with Ebony. But he hadn't felt _anything_ for the brunette he'd just snogged. And maybe that was the alcohol, he considered. But Scorpius wasn't so convinced.

Would he ever feel the way he felt with Rose when kissing another girl?—Scorpius started to panic. What if _she_ was the one? The only one he would ever have a real emotional connection with? What if they were—he gulped— _soulmates?_ He would never have that again. Not with her—not with anyone.

Scorpius looked after the girl but she was gone. Perhaps snogging another unsuspecting guy who'd had a bit too much to drink. Scorpius did feel somewhat upset that she'd stolen what should have been a big emotional moment for him, but he pushed his feelings aside. What was he complaining for?—he scolded himself. He was sixteen, and he could now add another name to the list of girls he'd snogged—that couldn't be bad.

And yet, Scorpius didn't feel the slightest bit proud or happy about it. He didn't even _know_ her name, nor did he want to. She was just some nameless brunette Slytherin he'd snogged at a party, and that's all she would ever be. Maybe he wouldn't even remember it in the morning. He was certain he'd never see nor overlap with her again.

And that's all he knew; that's all she was to him. She could have been anyone. Just some nameless brunette Slytherin he'd snogged at a party…

Of only one other thing was Scorpius certain:

She wasn't Rose Weasley.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note:** Italicised extracts from 'Rose and Scorpius: A Forbidden Love.'_

 _Next chapter tomorrow!_


	3. Girl No 2

**Chapter 3 – Girl No. 2**

* * *

Scorpius Malfoy and Lyra Aldebaran had had a flirtatious hatred for each other for years.

He had met her on his first day at Hogwarts, both of them being placed in Slytherin, and her being the half-sister of Albireo Aldebaran—the boy he'd just been introduced to as his roommate for the next seven years.

Scorpius had been relieved to have been sorted into Slytherin, and even more relieved to have already seemingly made friends. Slytherins were _nice_ , he noted, despite the rumours he'd heard. They were friendly, polite, and they genuinely seemed to get on with him.

The three of them had sat together during the welcoming feast following the Sorting. The only person Scorpius had known before coming to Hogwarts (and who had, thankfully, been sorted into Slytherin too) was Ebony Darkbrow, with whom he'd been close friends with since he was five. But Ebony was preoccupied, he'd noticed, chatting animatedly with a girl with crazy pink hair and a pair of dirty blonde twins further down the table. But Scorpius didn't mind; he was sure they'd be able to reunite in plenty of time.

But no, he was more than happy to have found himself in the company of the Aldebaran siblings. _Half_ -siblings, technically. The boy, Albireo, seemed perfectly charming. Smart, witty, friendly—everything Scorpius could have looked for in a friend.

And Lyra, the girl, was beautiful, he couldn't help but think. Scorpius had grown up with Ebony as a friend, so he certainly wasn't unaccustomed to female beauty. But there was something about Lyra—her soft coffee-coloured skin, straight dark hair, gleaming eyes, and friendly disposition—that he found mesmerising.

If only he'd know what a bitch she was back then.

It hadn't taken long for them to bond, and Scorpius could already see it—the three of them, an unbreakable Slytherin trio. It had been Lyra narrowing her eyes at the Gryffindors that had confirmed it.

"The Potter-Weasleys," she muttered under her breath with distaste.

Scorpius had instantly felt relieved. He'd been under strict instruction from his parents _not_ to interact with the Potter-Weasleys—Rose, in particular (though, back then, he hadn't known why)—and so far, not a single one of them had been sorted into Slytherin. Most of them resided in Gryffindor, with a few scattered elsewhere. But the new ones—Rose and Albus—had just been sorted into Gryffindor, and Scorpius couldn't believe his luck.

"You don't like the Potter-Weasleys?" he'd curiously enquired, following Lyra's snide comment.

"No one does," Lyra said darkly. "Or, at least, no one _should_."

Scorpius agreed—that's what he'd been raised to believe—but he still felt slightly uncomfortable. After all, he didn't _really_ have a reason to dislike them. He'd never even met any of them! And surely, neither had Lyra.

"Do you know them?" Scorpius had cautiously asked.

Lyra's pretty face had convulsed into a look of absolute disgust. "If I did, I'd kill myself."

Scorpius was more than a little shocked—surely, she was joking? He just laughed uneasily.

Albireo, looking a little embarrassed by his sister's morbid declaration, leant across the table and apologetically explained to Scorpius, "We have family that are in Azkaban because of the Potter-Weasleys. So… they're not particular favourites in our household."

Scorpius glanced over to the redheaded girl who'd just settled at the Gryffindor table to thunderous applause—back then, a complete stranger. Little did he know how hopelessly he'd fall in love with her.

"Same here," Scorpius murmured. "I mean—my family got cleared of all charges, but… they really can't stand them."

Lyra was staring so angrily at Rose Weasley that she looked like she might kill _her_ , instead.

"I'm just glad none of them are in Slytherin," Albireo said.

"Yeah," Scorpius agreed. "I don't think anybody would particularly get on with them in this house…"

"I swear, if we have to share classes with them," Lyra said threateningly.

"We will, Lyra," Albireo sighed. "But just ignore them, okay?"

Lyra, instead, chose to ignore her brother's comment, still intently glaring at Rose and her family. In truth, Scorpius was a little frightened of her. She was very intimidating—not the kind of girl you'd want to cross.

"Well, _I'll_ certainly be keeping my distance," Scorpius muttered. He wasn't an idiot; he knew the Potter-Weasleys were dangerous, and he didn't want to ever cross paths with them.

The very next day, he had befriended Albus Potter.

Three and a half years later, he and Rose had fallen in love.

Though he'd rather die than admit it to anyone, Scorpius had had quite the crush on Lyra during his first three years at Hogwarts. She was beautiful, she was smart, she was confident—she was everything he found attractive.

But her toxic personality ruined everything. She was prejudiced, she was catty, and she was vindictive beyond belief. And this was slowly revealed to him over the years. At first, they'd been somewhat close—sitting together, studying together—but she'd always been wary of his choice of friends. More particularly, the fact that he'd chosen Albus as his best friend.

Not only was it a slap in the face—a Slytherin cavorting with a Gryffindor, a Malfoy cavorting with a Potter (whom Lyra openly and unashamedly loathed)—she also saw it as a more personal betrayal. It was her view that Albireo, her half-brother, should have claimed the title of Scorpius Malfoy's best friend, thus cementing their little trio. Maybe she even wanted to _be_ with Scorpius—but he hurriedly pushed that thought aside. He didn't want to flatter himself by entertaining that possibility.

Lyra didn't get on with her roommates—Ebony, Jinx, Melody, and Marissa—loathing Jinx the most, simply due to their clashing personalities. The feeling was perfectly mutual. And thus, when Jinx and Albireo had started their treacherous on-again-off-again relationship, that had really unsettled the dynamics of the trio Lyra so desperately wanted to exist. Scorpius had supported the relationship, and this had angered Lyra further.

By the time the news got out that Rose and Scorpius were dating (in Fourth Year), Lyra made it blindly clear that she _detested_ Scorpius, that his betrayal was unforgivable, and that she wanted absolutely nothing more to do with him.

Theirs was a love-hate sort of relationship, even if neither of them would openly admit it. Scorpius had never faltered in finding Lyra physically attractive, and there was certainly something very desirable in her ruthlessly ambitious attitude, but she was a monster. They teased each other, they pushed each other to their limits, they verbally sparred—but often light-heartedly. And that was the extent of their relationship.

Until one day in early January of their fifth year.

"Wandering the corridors after curfew?" Scorpius was making his way back to the dungeons after patrol, surprised and then wickedly delighted to find Lyra wandering the corridors.

Once she noticed who it was, she rolled her eyes, her mouth dropping into a scowl. "What's it to you?"

"I'm a _prefect_ ," Scorpius boasted, loving his power in that moment. His own gleeful smile slipped into an even more gleeful smirk. "Which gives _me_ the power to report you to a teacher. I could very well land you a detention."

"You wouldn't _dare._ "

"Would you really like to test me?" _Oh_ , Scorpius was loving this. He was only joking, of course; he didn't really care about getting Lyra a detention. He just wanted her to squirm. He had her right in the palm of his hand—and she _knew_ it.

That was when Scorpius noticed that she wasn't even heading towards the dungeons. She'd been coming towards him— _from_ the dungeons.

"Wait a second," he said, the pieces falling into place. "You're not late back to the common room—you're sneaking _out."_

Lyra glanced down guiltily at his accusation, and Scorpius knew he'd gotten it right. She said nothing, though, neither confirming nor denying.

"So," Scorpius went on, fully in control and still smirking, "Lyra Aldebaran is sneaking out of the dungeons after curfew, which begs one question— _why?_ Seeing someone?" he guessed. "A boy, perhaps?"

Still, Lyra said nothing.

Scorpius raised his eyebrow. "A girl?"

Lyra glared at him. "I'm not meeting anybody," she hissed.

"Ah, but, you see, I don't believe you," Scorpius gleefully went on. "I think you're lying to me, Lyra. I think you're guilty as hell. _I_ think you're sneaking out to meet with someone—a secret little rendezvous. But with whom?"

Lyra made to barge past him, but Scorpius was quicker. He stepped to one side, blocking her.

"And that leads me to another question," Scorpius continued. "Because if you're sneaking _out_ , that suggests to me that this person—whoever it is you're meeting—isn't, in fact, a Slytherin."

Lyra was struggling to look Scorpius in the eye any longer, starting to crack under his scrutiny. She was nervous; she was _guilty._ " _Move it_ , Malfoy," she growled.

Did she really think she intimidated him? Unlike her brother, Lyra was minute in size, and therefore tiny in comparison to Scorpius. She couldn't have been much more than five foot two. Perhaps that's why she was so angry, Scorpius considered. All the short girls he knew—Lyra, Jinx, Janey, Taylor—were all very stubborn and all very angry…

Scorpius was so distracted by this thought that Lyra almost slipped past him, using it to her advantage. But Scorpius' reflexes were quick, and he shot out an arm, slamming his hand against the wall, blocking her exit once more.

"Scorpius—"

"Who are you meeting?"

"I'm not meeting anyone!" Lyra weakly protested.

"Then why"—Scorpius leant down, inhaling deeply—"are you wearing perfume?" He remained leant in close to her and inspected her face with an even deeper smirk. "Why are you wearing makeup? _Why_ "—he twirled a thick dark curl around his finger—"did you do your hair?"

Lyra held her tongue for a while, intimidated by how closely Scorpius was leaning into her. He let the curl fall back to her shoulder with a slight bounce.

"Trust me—I know you're meeting someone. Ebony used to sneak out to see James Potter most nights when we were dating, and she was exactly the same."

Lyra winced at the name.

"Look," Scorpius conceded, trying to be polite, "if you tell me, I'll happily let you go. I'm just curious, alright? You've no reason to be sneaking out to meet with someone romantically—unless, of course, you're _ashamed._ You're embarrassed by whoever it is you're meeting, _guilty_ —but why? Who are you keeping a secret? Someone from another house, clearly. Someone you'd be a hypocrite to date. So whoever this boy is—or girl—"

"Why are you so obsessed with me dating a girl?" Lyra interrupted, finally breaking her silence. She looked deeply amused.

Scorpius was pleasantly surprised. "I've been single for a long time now, Lyra; my mind has a tendency to wander."

Lyra snorted at him. "You've been single for a _month_ , idiot. You're just a dirty little schoolboy—nothing more."

"Are you coming onto me?"

"Absolutely not!"

"Because you're dating a girl?"

"I'm not dating _anyone_ ," she countered.

"How do you know I've been single for a month?" Scorpius asked, trying a different approach. "Why do you know that off the top of your head? Why are you so obsessed with my dating history?"

Lyra's expression suddenly turned from teasing to stony. "Because it means that Gryffindor _bitch_ has been out of the picture and out of my life—that's all I care about."

Scorpius and Lyra were both so stunned by what happened next that neither of them knew how to react in the aftermath. Scorpius, on an impulse, fuelled by total _fury_ , had slammed Lyra against the wall of the abandoned corridor, violent and snarling.

"Don't _ever_ talk about Rose like that," he said in a threatening voice, practically spitting in her face, only an inch away from her.

Lyra was stunned, her expression frozen into one of shock.

As soon as Scorpius realised what he'd done, he leant back in horror, equally as stunned. He released his grip in a panic. "Did I hurt you?" he practically whimpered. Scorpius was _not_ a violent person, he avoided physical violence (any violence) at all costs, and he never would have wanted to lay a finger on Lyra.

But something had triggered him. Something, deep down, upon hearing Rose ill-spoken of, had made him snap.

Still, it was no excuse. And he was disgusted; he was ashamed.

"Leave me alone, Scorpius," Lyra hissed, pushing away from him and his threatening embrace. And that time, he almost let her go.

"Lyra, please, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to lose control like that—I didn't want to hurt you. I didn't want to threaten you. Please, just let me—"

"Unlike some of us," she said coolly, spinning on her heel to glare at him, "I don't _cavort_ with people from other houses. I have a little thing called loyalty."

Scorpius did everything he could to keep his composure. "It has nothing to do with 'loyalty,'" he said calmly. "Rose and I—"

"I _don't_ want to hear about you and Rose," Lyra said exasperatedly. "I don't want to hear _anything_ about that bitch. What?" she asked, raising her eyebrows in a condescending manner. "Are you going to slam me into the wall again because I said a bad word against your _pathetic_ ex—"

" _Don't,"_ Scorpius growled, but he remained where he was that time. "Rose will never be as cold and vindictive as you are, Lyra. She'll never be as big a _bitch_ as you are."

Lyra was fuming, but she bit her lip. "We could have been really close, Scorpius, you know that, right?"

Scorpius was surprised by the sudden change of tone. "I know," he said softly. "And we were. For a day…"

For a brief second, Scorpius actually thought Lyra looked saddened. But it was gone as quickly as it had come, hardening into a scowl once more. "You really screwed up."

Scorpius was taken aback. "I did no such thing. Things with Rose were… _messy_. But I don't regret it." He swallowed a lump in his throat. "I wouldn't change anything."

"I wasn't talking about _Rose_ ," Lyra said with a roll of her eyes, saying the word like it left a vile taste in her mouth. "I was talking about _me._ "

Scorpius wasn't sure where she was going with this, and he wasn't sure how he felt about it. He decided to revert the conversation back to its original topic. "Just tell me who you're meeting."

"Why do you care so much?"

"Lyra, I'm not playing games—"

"Neither am I."

They stared at each other, challenging, unblinking. They would never see eye-to-eye, and Scorpius knew that. It was a shame, he thought, that such an ugly personality was contained within such a beautiful shell. But he cast the thought aside in horror; he didn't want to be attracted to Lyra in _any_ way.

But her eyes, he couldn't help but notice—they really were beautiful.

"I never understood what you saw in Rose," she said spitefully. "What was it about her? What was so special about _her?"_

Scorpius felt like he was reliving many an argument he'd shared with Ebony. "Don't _push_ me," he warned through gritted teeth. "Lyra, I'm warning you—"

"She's smart, sure, and maybe she's beautiful—if you're into that disgusting orange—"

He moved so quickly, and so forcibly, that Lyra didn't really have time to oppose what was happening. Not that she even seemed to want to. Within seconds, Scorpius had backed her up against the cold stone wall of the corridor, just as he had done before—though this time, his violence wasn't a threat. He kissed her with everything he had.

Lyra wasn't being at all submissive, meeting him with equal passion, fierce and hungry _._ Scorpius didn't have time to question why he'd done it; he just _had._ An impulse, a desire, a need, fuelled by the anger she'd stirred within him by continuously slandering Rose. Though, truthfully, Rose was far from his mind.

It was a hate kiss—something entirely new to Scorpius—both of them acting out of pent-up aggression for the other. Lyra didn't seem to care that she was pinned up against the wall; she wanted it as much as Scorpius apparently did. They had thrown away all common sense and rational thinking, not caring for the consequences.

Who knew how long it lasted. But when it eventually came to an end, Scorpius being the one to have dragged his lips away first, just as he'd been the one to initiate it, he was horrified. Lyra's expression mirrored his own.

"I—I— _oh my god,"_ Scorpius stuttered, dazed and desperately confused about what had happened. How had he let that happen? _Why?_ He still had Lyra pinned up against the wall, her face still so close to his. He felt the blood rush to his face. "I—I—I need to—"

But Scorpius didn't finish his sentence (not that he'd known where he was going with it); he just walked hurriedly away, back to the dungeons, never looking back. He only hoped that, whoever Lyra was meeting that evening, she wasn't overly serious with them yet. He could never live with himself if he'd come between someone else's relationship. Even if that person _was_ Lyra.

Although, something told Scorpius that Lyra wouldn't be telling _anyone_ about what had just happened.

And he certainly wouldn't be.

The next morning, when it all came back to him, Scorpius felt nothing but regret.

They never spoke of it. They didn't even engage in conversation after that night if they could help it. It was their unspoken little secret—something to be forgotten—lost in regret. Scorpius was embarrassed. He had never been the kind of guy to just push a girl up against a wall and snog her. Not even a girl he knew—not even Rose.

So what was he doing?

First some random girl at a party—whose name he never had learnt—and now a girl he supposedly loathed? Though the kiss with Lyra had been more meaningful, it had still felt off. It had felt… _wrong._

Fuelled by anger, it had still been lacking in passion. It had still felt clumsy and unsatisfying, and it had only left Scorpius with a hollow feeling in his chest. He still found that his theory very much persisted—that he was cursed when it came to love. That Rose had been the only one for him, and that, because of his own selfish reasons, he had ruined the only real thing he was ever capable of having.

Not that _love_ was really what he was after; he just wanted anything, _desperately_ , to take his mind away from his breakup and the heartbreak he was still feeling as a result.

He had tried a friend, he had tried a stranger, and now, he thought in disgust, he had tried an enemy. But Lyra had only left him feeling more confused than ever, this time with the additional self-hatred that accompanied one when they snogged someone who was supposed to be a rival.

But whether she was a rival, a stranger, or a friend, Scorpius didn't care. It didn't matter who Lyra was to him, nor that he had kissed her.

The only thing that mattered, the only thing he could focus on, was one heart-wrenching, painful truth:

She wasn't Rose.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note:** Thanks for the response so far, guys, I'm glad you're enjoying it. Next chapter tomorrow!_


	4. Girl No 3

**Chapter 4 – Girl No. 3**

* * *

Scorpius met Harriet in the library.

It was the beginning of February, two months after his final breakup with Rose, six weeks after his drunken snog with the random Slytherin brunette, and one month after his inadvertent make-out session with Lyra. And he could still think of no one, with the feeling of a thousand daggers piercing his abdomen, but the redheaded girl he had been in love with for almost a year.

Nothing was working. No matter whom he kissed, however passionately and enthusiastically, nobody could distract him enough to fill the hole he'd ripped in his own chest by ending his relationship with Rose.

It might have only been two months (and two girls), but Scorpius was getting desperate now. But honestly, what else could he do? It was _never_ going to happen for him, no matter what he did—no matter who he kissed. He wouldn't ever be able to reignite that passion he'd felt with her, and this realisation only made his heart ache further.

He had ruined the one true thing he'd ever had, and he would never get it back. It wasn't even that he wanted to get Rose back; he just wanted to get over her. But he had been trying, in vain, and nothing was working. No girl was _her_. No girl was anything like her!

Harriet was blonde. Very beautiful, very shy, and very much not the kind of girl who usually caught Scorpius' eye. He had always been drawn to strong girls, confident and powerful. But he had caught sight of her that miserable day in the library and found himself unable to look away.

Scorpius didn't often frequent the library. Firstly, because he just didn't like it—he had little interest in books or studying, nor the eerie silence it demanded—and secondly, because he was afraid of running into Rose.

Rose Weasley _loved_ the library; she'd live there if she could. She'd always gone there to escape, and the last thing Scorpius wanted was to taint her place of worship. She would probably view it as a betrayal on his part—him showing up there when it was _her_ special place—and Scorpius really didn't want her to hate him more than she already did. Rose needed time, and she needed her space. As did Scorpius.

But it had been raining, and the common room had been overcrowded. Seeking a solace in which he could study for his History of Magic test the following day, Scorpius had found he had no choice. If fate was cruel to him and he happened to run into Rose, he would simply apologise and leave.

He had never felt more anxious as he walked into the library on that day, and Scorpius couldn't be sure whether that was because he was nervous about potentially running into Rose, or because, deep down, he actually _wanted_ to. But as luck (or perhaps un-luck) would have it, no glimmer of red hair could be seen.

With a lump in his throat, Scorpius made his way to the most deserted area of the library—a corner tucked away near the back of the room, where only a small handful of people were studying. There was still a high probability that she might show, and Scorpius didn't want to be easily seen if she did. He couldn't do that to her.

Studying in the library was difficult. Being surrounded by books constantly reminded Scorpius of the one he was trying to forget. It didn't help that he was attempting to study for History of Magic either; he and Rose had always studied for it together. Scorpius had never enjoyed studying, but with Rose, he had loved every second. She had been the most effective form of motivation to study he'd ever known. And now, without her, he was struggling, and he just felt lost.

With a sigh, Scorpius had looked up, idly flicking the tip of his quill around, and that's when he'd seen her. Long fair hair that fell in waves all the way down to her waist, secured to one side with a hair clip, and an open book in her lap, which she was intently poring over.

Scorpius blinked in confusion, feeling like he'd been there before. But how could he have been?—he hadn't been to the library in months.

And then it hit him.

* * *

 _"What are you doing for your birthday?"_

 _Scorpius looked up in surprise. He'd been making eyes at a blonde girl across the common room, both of them pretending to be engrossed in their respective textbooks, but coyly looking up every now and again and exchanging flirtatious looks._

* * *

The evening Ebony and the others had posed the idea of his birthday party, two months prior, Scorpius had been distracted by a blonde girl sat across the room from him, just as he was right then in the library. But whoever the girl had been that night, and whoever the girl he was currently observing was—they weren't the same. The girl in the common room had been a Slytherin, obviously, and this one was clearly Hufflepuff—given the easily discernible crest on her robes.

They were similar, though, and Scorpius was intrigued. Was he into blondes now? Was that his thing? He'd been chasing brunettes (and desperately avoiding redheads)—was this the solution? What he'd been looking for?

Scorpius flicked the quill again, further intrigued. Maybe it was a book thing. Maybe it was something to do with coyness, and the mystery of observing a girl across the room, eyes meeting, stealing shy glances.

Scorpius' stomach dropped. He'd lived out that scenario before. A coy, bookish girl whose eye he had caught from across the room. Oh, yes, Scorpius was all too familiar with that scenario…

He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, just about deciding that the studying wasn't working and that he should return to the dungeons, when she looked up, and their eyes finally met. Scorpius gulped, hoping this girl, whoever she was, hadn't thought he'd been staring at her in a sort of creepy, stalker-ish way.

He offered a smile, hoping to dissuade such speculations, feeling awkward that he'd been caught staring, but she shyly returned it, tucking her hair behind her ear.

Both averted their gazes, staring back down at their respective textbooks. Scorpius felt his heart give a slight flutter. Perhaps he'd stick around the library a little while longer…

For the next half an hour, this pattern continued. One would look up, then the other; sometimes they'd look up at the same time, and when they did, their cheeks would turn red, they'd break out into small smiles, and then they'd hurriedly look away.

It was odd, Scorpius thought, that he could feel so connected to a person simply through looks and stolen smiles. He already felt more depth with this complete stranger than he had done with the girl he'd snogged at the Slytherin party—and all they'd done was _look_ at each other, with fifteen feet of distance between them. They hadn't talked, they hadn't interacted, and Scorpius didn't even know her name.

 _Well,_ he thought impishly, _that was about to change._

Scorpius slammed his textbook shut with a thud, prompting the blonde Hufflepuff to look up. Trying to channel the cool confidence that James Potter exuded (though he'd admit it to no one), Scorpius made his way over the girl. She stared up at him with wide eyes—very blue, he noted—suddenly looking like a deer caught in the headlights. It was clear she hadn't expected their interactions to extend further than meaningful glances, and Scorpius revelled in her sudden unease.

Her shyness was a blessing to Scorpius; it made him feel…. _desirable._

"Hi," he said warmly, hoping this would be easy.

Scorpius had never had to go out of his way to actively pursue a girl; both girls he'd been with had been special circumstances. Ebony had been a friend who had become a love interest (and then quickly reverted back to a friend), and as for him and Rose? It had been _fate_ , Scorpius decided rather sentimentally. She and him had been brought together, and it had taken very little effort on either of their parts to fall in love.

Not that Scorpius was trying to fall in love, he thought awkwardly. He just wanted to talk to a pretty blonde girl; that was all.

The girl in question looked down bashfully, hurriedly closing her own textbook and reaching for her bag. "H-hi, I was just—actually—I was leaving."

Scorpius was taken aback. Was this girl just overly shy and intimidated or had he come on too strong? Maybe it hadn't been flirtatious glances, but rather just him looking like a creep and her feeling uncomfortable.

"Oh." Scorpius ran a hand through the back of his hair, feeling disheartened. "Can I walk you back?" he asked, trying not to let the cool, confident façade he was going for falter. "To your common room?" Scorpius suddenly blushed. "I mean—if that's even where you're going. I just… assumed."

 _Oh, Merlin, it was going terribly._ _He was doing everything wrong. Why was this so hard?_

A lump formed in Scorpius' throat, and he struggled to swallow it. It had never felt that difficult with Rose. Everything, no matter how nervous he'd felt, had always just come to him.

But he wasn't giving up on this one yet.

The girl looked startled, which Scorpius supposed was fair. They didn't even know each other, after all; he was just a random stranger in the library who'd made eyes at her and was now offering to accompany her in the corridors, alone. Maybe he wasn't being as charming as he thought; maybe he _was_ being creepy.

"You're in Hufflepuff, right?" Scorpius asked instead, trying to engage her in polite conversation. When she looked surprised, he indicated to the crest on her robes.

She blushed again. "Oh, yeah," she laughed, looking to the crest, "I am."

She had a nice voice, Scorpius thought, soft and young. Something suddenly dropped in his stomach. He realised he didn't know how old this girl was. Sure, he'd take a guess that she wasn't in Fifth Year, as he certainly didn't recognise her (but then again, did he really know any of the Hufflepuffs?), so maybe she was younger. Maybe _that's_ why she was so startled.

Scorpius longed to know, but he felt to just outright ask her _would_ be beyond weird, and he'd surely never see nor hear from her again. Instead, he smiled, a warm, hopefully kind grin. "I'm Scorpius," he introduced, realising they weren't even yet on a first-name basis. He suspected (though he felt cocky to assume so) that she already knew who he was, though. Most, if not all people in Hogwarts certainly knew who Scorpius Malfoy was.

But he wanted to know who _she_ was.

The Hufflepuff girl tucked her hair behind her ear again. "I'm Harriet."

 _Harriet_ —Scorpius ran the name through his mind. It was nice, he thought.

"Oh—here." Scorpius had reached down to pick up one of her textbooks for her, and as he had passed it to her, for the briefest of moments, their hands had touched, skin brushing against skin, igniting a slight cliché-inducing buzz.

"Thanks," Harriet said breathlessly, withdrawing her hand. Neither she nor Scorpius looked away. Her eyes were _very_ blue.

 _Just like Rose's were._

Scorpius walked her back to her common room, which was a first for him; he hadn't even known where the Hufflepuff Common Room was before then (which had been a little embarrassing—but thankfully, she'd found it funny). Harriet was in her fourth year, Scorpius came to learn, which put his mind at ease. She liked Herbology, reading, she was from Wales, and her parents were both Muggles. She had a dog called Daisy.

She was easy to talk to, Scorpius found, despite a shaky start. And he _liked_ talking to her. It was nice—getting to discover a new person—and he hadn't felt that genuinely at ease with anyone for a long time, even though they barely knew each other.

It was with a somewhat heavy heart that they eventually reached the door of the Hufflepuff Common Room (beside the kitchens, Scorpius now knew), neither really wanting to part just yet. But Scorpius knew he'd be unwelcome in the common room, and he didn't want to put Harriet in that position.

Scorpius considered kissing her right then. Nothing outrageous—just a friendly parting peck on the cheek, but something told him even that would be too much too soon. And besides—why the rush? There was nothing stopping Harriet and Scorpius from comfortably getting to know each other.

Scorpius laughed internally. Could it really be that easy? Was it actually possible to have a relationship with a girl _without_ complication?

The concept was certainly foreign to him.

"I'll, err, I'll see you around," Scorpius said gently. "Maybe in the library?"

Harriet nodded, shyly biting her lip. "Yeah, that would be nice. To, err, see you around," she gulped.

Scorpius couldn't help but smile, feeling happier and more relaxed than he had done in a while. "Great."

And then she was gone.

* * *

The library became Scorpius' favourite place. For two weeks or so, he and Harriet would meet there to study (and subtly talk when Madam Pince wasn't in earshot), almost on a daily basis, and Scorpius found, as the days progressed, the less he stopped worrying that he would bump into Rose.

Harriet was easy to talk to, if not a little shy and nervous, but she warmed to Scorpius the more time they spent together, slowly becoming more at ease in his company.

She was unlike any girl Scorpius had been romantically interested in before. First off, she was a Hufflepuff (and a year younger than him), and physically, too, she was so different—blonde and fair—a homely sort of beauty rather than a striking one. And she was _kind._

Not that neither Rose nor Ebony weren't, but they certainly had dark streaks. Scorpius didn't even need to think about Lyra—there was no question that she was a terrible person. But as for the other two girls? No one could deny the cruel, vindictive, manipulative part of Ebony's complex personality, and actually, Rose wasn't so different. Both girls had gotten out of control a few months prior, in their manipulative war to bring the other down. Both were stubborn, overemotional, _passionate_.

And partially, it was that depth which Scorpius was so attracted to. But it was a pleasant relief just to be in the company of a girl who was simply _nice_ for once—without all the additional, emotional complications.

And then, one day, almost two weeks after he'd met her, both of them sat huddled up together in the library, more at ease than they'd ever been together (and that Scorpius had felt with anyone for a while), he almost kissed her.

The moment had felt right. They'd been talking, they'd been laughing, and somehow, before either had known it, their faces were close—so much so that their separate smiles were almost one. Scorpius needed only to close that gap, softly and tenderly. But something held him back. "Wait, I—I'd like to get to know you better first," he said shyly, knowing what he needed to do.

Harriet looked up at him with her innocent blue eyes, full of surprise and something else. _Respect_ , Scorpius noted. _Awe?_

He wondered what was going through her mind. Here was a guy—practically a stranger—older, confident, with a notable reputation as—well—a bit of heartbreaker, and with her completely in the palm of his hand, who could very easily take what he wanted and kiss her, but _wouldn't?_

And maybe she wanted to kiss him (Scorpius certainly hoped she did, otherwise that would have been embarrassing), but he could also tell that she was kind of relieved. And he felt so too.

Scorpius had a theory, you see. It had been made clear to him, through his failed attempts to get over Rose by snogging total strangers, that maybe a hook-up, per se, wasn't what he needed. Maybe what he needed to truly get over his relationship with Rose, was simply a new relationship to invest himself in. _A relationship._

The word somewhat scared him, considering both his failed, dramatic attempts so far. So perhaps not a relationship as such, but at least an emotional connection. He needed to _feel_ something for the girl he was kissing. He needed to know her—deeply. Or at least more so than his last two conquests. Perhaps the coyness, the build-up, the _tension_ leading up to his first kiss with Harriet—just like he'd had with Rose—was what would make it special. Would make it meaningful.

"Can I take you out?" Scorpius announced rather bluntly.

Harriet looked up at him with wide, surprised eyes. She still had a faint blush in her cheeks, and Scorpius remembered he _had_ just been about to kiss her.

Something unsettled him about her cheeks in that moment, weird as it may sound. Smooth and pale, like alabaster, the redness of her blush… but something was _missing._ Scorpius was caught unawares. What could possibly be missing from a girl's _cheeks?_ What was wrong with him?

And then he gulped. Because he realised.

Harriet didn't have a single freckle.

"Of course," she said in a shy, breathy voice, still staring up at him with those wide eyes.

It took Scorpius a while to realise what he'd just asked of her and what was happening. _If only he could get the damn freckles out of his mind._

"Like a… like a date?" Harriet asked shyly, her voice catching on the last word.

"Yeah," Scorpius confirmed before he could stop himself. "Exactly like a date. In Hogsmeade. Next weekend?"

Harriet just nodded, perhaps overwhelmed by Scorpius' sudden confidence.

Scorpius smiled at her. "Great," he said. "I'll meet you by the gates at eleven?"

Harriet just nodded again, still overwhelmed. Scorpius offered a final smile and left somewhat abruptly. He didn't think he could bear to look at her face any longer, as beautiful as it was. Not when it didn't bear even one single damn freckle.

* * *

Scorpius' hands were shaking as he waited by the gates at eleven the following weekend. He wasn't wearing a scarf, and as much as he pulled the collar of his coat up, the bitter February wind kept whipping at his neck. But he couldn't wear a scarf. He no longer had one. He'd given his scarf to Rose the night he'd first kissed her, and she'd had it ever since. He wondered if she still had it.

She'd gifted hers to him in return, but there was no way in hell Scorpius could wear that scarf. Not only because it was Rose's, but because it was a Gryffindor scarf. No doubt the Slytherins would murder him for wearing it, and no doubt his former Gryffindor friends would murder him if they caught sight of him in it.

Which was precisely why Scorpius' hands were shaking so much as he awaited Harriet's arrival. Not because of the cold, as one might assume, but because he was nervous. For several reasons.

Firstly, he had been on only one date in his life, and that had been with Rose, and it couldn't have possibly been more perfect. Scorpius was sceptical that anything would ever live up to that. And because he'd only been on one date in his whole life—not to mention he and Rose had been dating for about five months before they'd even gone on that date—he had no idea what he was really supposed to do.

This too would be his first public outing with Harriet. Scorpius had no doubt that watchful eyes had been observing his and Harriet's frequent interactions in the library over the past few weeks, but hanging out with a girl in Hogsmeade? Just the two of them? Well, that was bound to turn heads and get tongues wagging.

They would be exposed to about two-thirds of the Hogwarts populace, and knowing how gossip spread through Hogwarts, it was bound to get out that Scorpius was 'seeing' a new girl. What if Rose heard? What would she think?

Scorpius took a breath to steady himself. He had broken up with Rose, he had to remind himself. He had already hurt her, and he was no longer expected to be loyal to her in any way. He was free to date. It had been months since he and Rose had broken up for good, which was a perfectly acceptable amount of time to be dating again. (He had already dated Ebony, after all, and that had begun the very same day he'd ended things with Rose…)

And besides, arrogant as he was, Scorpius knew Rose was a strong girl. She wasn't pining after him. She probably couldn't care less what he got up to in his personal life anymore. Maybe she was dating again, he considered. Maybe she too would be embarking on a date that same Hogsmeade visit… with an older stranger from Hufflepuff… or that Ravenclaw Seeker… or maybe even finally with Sam Tyler…

Scorpius's hands were shaking no more and had suddenly balled into fists.

"Hey!"

Harriet's gentle voice startled Scorpius, but he was relieved to see her there. She looked very pretty, Scorpius noted, but still—ever since the freckles revelation, it had been hard to shake. Hair the colour of straw, pretty as it was, just sort of faded into the miserable February backdrop. Red hair, on the other hand…

"Shall we go down?" Scorpius asked, extending a hand. Harriet eyed it shyly, but Scorpius felt it the right thing to do. He was going on a date with a pretty fourth-year Hufflepuff, and he didn't care if the whole school knew it.

She did take his hand, and Scorpius wondered whether he should have brought flowers or something. Well, it was too late for that anyway, but maybe he could present her with something in Hogsmeade. Maybe not a whole bunch of flowers—that might be a bit overkill—but perhaps just one. Yeah, he decided, that would be sweet. That would be romantic. A single long-stemmed flower. A rose.

Scorpius' hand twitched, and before he realised what was happening, Harriet beamed at him and tightened the grip of their clasped hands, misunderstanding Scorpius' involuntary movement.

People were staring, their curiosity piqued by this strange and unexpected pairing, but Harriet didn't seem to notice, and Scorpius decided he didn't care. He'd also decided that flowers of any kind were a no-go.

"So… where are we going?"

Scorpius felt bad. He hadn't put much thought into this date beforehand, and he wasn't being particularly forthcoming with the conversation so far.

"The Three Broomsticks?" Harriet suggested.

"Oh, err, no," Scorpius said impulsively. He couldn't take Harriet there, he just couldn't. Memories of red hair, and Butterbeer, and kissing in the rain… And freckles.

He noticed that she looked disheartened and quickly tried to perk up. "Everyone goes to The Three Broomsticks; there's nothing special about it," Scorpius lied. "I thought we could go somewhere… quieter."

Scorpius was totally winging it, but the more it progressed, the more anxious he got about this date. Had he made a mistake? Was he in over his head? Was he ready to go public with Harriet? Was he even sure he wanted anything more with her? Could he really commit so soon after Rose?

"What about here?" he burst out, noticing a frilly little tea shop down a side road. Rather ungracefully, he sort of dragged Harriet towards it, eager to get out of the cold and away from prying eyes.

"Madam Puddifoot's?" Harriet read the name aloud. " _Oh_."

Scorpius turned to look at her sharply, worriedly. Had he done something wrong? Was this not a good place to go? But the look of awe on Harriet's face told him otherwise. She looked elated, breathless. Why?—Scorpius wondered. It was just a tea shop. He hadn't even heard of it before.

His question was answered immediately as they entered the shop, a little bell tinkling above the door. It was like walking into a little girl's imagination (or so Scorpius assumed). If Valentine's Day could be exhibited as a tea shop, this was definitely it. It was so _pink_. And frilly, and fluffy, and _gross_ , and so sickeningly romantic that Scorpius genuinely felt a little nauseous. _Was_ it Valentine's Day?—Scorpius wondered. Had he unintentionally asked a girl out on a date on Valentine's Day and not even realised?

But no, it was too early he knew. It was only the tenth.

Couples filled the tiny little tables everywhere he looked, looking very much smitten. _Oh, Merlin._

He had unintentionally brought her to seemingly the most romantic place in Hogsmeade. It wasn't _quite_ what he'd envisioned for their date. Was it too late to backtrack and go to The Three Broomsticks instead?

But Harriet was gripping his arm excitedly as they lingered in the doorway. "Oh, it's _adorable_ ," she breathed.

"Indeed," Scorpius said through gritted teeth, groaning internally. The date hadn't even begun and he wished it was over. He wasn't sure he could do this after all. Not when it was so… _pink._

Ten minutes later, despite his initial doubt and disgust, Scorpius was having a nice time. He never wanted to set foot in Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop ever again as long as he lived, but despite the setting, the company was nice. He preferred to be out of the spotlight when he was with Harriet, and now that he was, he felt much more at ease. The couples around them were too invested in their own dates to really pay much attention to Scorpius and Harriet, and he was grateful. Conversation flowed, the beverages were nice, if not a little sweet, and Scorpius longed to kiss her. Finally. He'd waited long enough now, he felt he knew Harriet enough, he felt they had that emotional connection he'd been seeking, and when could he ever hope for a better setting or time to kiss her?

And he knew that when he did, he would know for sure. He would know if there really was something there. He would know if he really could move on with another girl.

Scorpius leant in, just like that day in the library, barely even unnerved by Harriet's lack of freckles anymore, ready to go for it. When, of course—

"Scorpius!?"

Scorpius moved back in alarm, recognising that seemingly innocent little voice, and swore loudly. Harriet was blushing furiously at the interruption, and Scorpius was just plain furious.

"Lily, what the _hell_ are you doing here? Did you follow me here? Are you spying on me? Stalking me?" Scorpius didn't even care how aggressive he was being, nor that couples were starting to look over and glare at him for causing a scene.

The petite redhead that stood before him looked just as furious. "I'm doing no such thing; I'm just here! And what the hell are _you_ doing?" Lily Potter directed her question at Scorpius but glared at Harriet with intense disgust.

The blonde girl seemed to shrink back in alarm.

"I'm on a date," Scorpius hissed.

"I can see that!" Lily shrieked, as though she herself was an ex, or as though Scorpius was still in a relationship with Rose. He wasn't doing anything wrong!

Lily narrowed her eyes. "I thought your haunt was The Three Broomsticks. And I thought you were only into redheads."

Scorpius was mortified. What the hell was Lily doing? By his side, Harriet was avoiding eye contact with everyone, looking like she wished the sofa in the booth they were in would just swallow her up.

"That was—that was once!" Scorpius spluttered, thinking of his date with Rose. He _knew_ Lily had been spying on him that day. "It's not my _haunt."_

"Well, you took me there," Lily said coolly.

"You know full well that wasn't a date!"

"Then why did you kiss me?"

Scorpius was so mad he thought he might flip the table and really cause a scene. He had met with Lily in The Three Broomsticks solely to ask for advice about Rose—at Lily's request! And Lily had kissed _him_. With the intention of making Rose jealous!

But he couldn't very well tell that to Harriet.

"Why are you here, Lily?" Scorpius growled instead, certain she was spying on him.

"I'm on a date."

"No, you're not."

"I'm here with a friend."

"No, you're not!"

Which, of course, was when Serephina appeared, having apparently been in the ladies room. Scorpius' little sister was as shocked to see him there as he was to see her. Perhaps they weren't up to something. Perhaps they really were just… _there._

Scorpius regarded her suspiciously. "Serephina?"

"Scorpius?"

He turned his attention back to Lily. "Why the hell would you two come _here_ of all places?"

Serephina blushed.

"We like tea," Lily answered coolly.

Serephina's eyes flickered towards Harriet, who was still shrinking into the sofa.

"Anyway," Lily went on, "we're leaving. And try not to cheat on this one."

She was gone, her vindictive words hanging in the air, before Scorpius could even respond. He turned to Harriet sheepishly, absolutely mortified. The other couples were turning their attention back to their own dates.

"I can explain," Scorpius gulped. "There is _nothing_ between me and Lily—there never was! And I _don't_ have a thing for redheads. I've dated a brunette! In fact, her hair was so dark that it was practically black. That's about as far from red as you can get! I've kissed brunettes, too, it's not just Lily and R—"

Scorpius couldn't do it. He couldn't say her name.

"And I'm not a cheater," he said desperately. "Yes, okay, I cheated on one girlfriend, but it was very confusing, and I was under a lot of pressure, and I—"

"Scorpius."

"I'm loyal! And I don't have a preference. I like _all_ women. I mean, not _all_ women, I'm not some kind of womaniser—I mean, I'm not like James Potter or anything! I just—"

"Scorpius."

Scorpius gulped. He didn't think he'd ever delivered a messier explanation, not even when he was trying to salvage his relationship with Rose after kissing Ebony right in front of her. "I'm sorry, Harriet, I just—"

"I know about Rose."

Scorpius just stared at her.

Harriet offered a weak smile. " _Everyone_ knows about Rose."

"But—"

"And I know about Ebony."

Scorpius wasn't sure what to say. How could anyone _not_ know about the whole Rose-Scorpius-Ebony fiasco? It had been the biggest scandal at Hogwarts since—well—since the likes of Harry Potter and his friends had been students.

"There's a lot more to it than what everyone saw," Scorpius insisted, wondering how on earth he could salvage this. "I'm not trying to defend myself—I know I made a lot of mistakes—but I'm not the person everyone is making me out to be, I swear."

"Scorpius, I believe you." Harriet watched him with sincere eyes, a sad but genuine smile on her lips, almost like she pitied him.

"Rose, Lily, Ebony—everybody—they're all history," Scorpius assured her.

"Really?"

Scorpius was taken aback. "Well, yeah, of course."

"Then why didn't we go to The Three Broomsticks?"

Scorpius could only gulp. Harriet was wise indeed. Perhaps not as naïve as he'd assumed.

"Look," she said kindly, extending a hand across the table, "I think you're very sweet, and I think you're a very honest guy, with genuine intentions, but I don't think you're over Rose."

Scorpius didn't say anything. He just let her talk.

Harriet continued. "Everyone could see what you had was special, and no one really knows why you did what you did—and I'm not asking," she added hastily, "—but I can see how lonely you are. How nervous you've been about opening up emotionally. And I don't think you're ready to move on. I don't think you're over her. And I can understand why. I don't _blame_ you, Scorpius. Rose was beautiful, and smart, and kind, and honest, and that's not the kind of girl you get over just like that."

"But I'm trying," Scorpius said in a broken voice.

"And I think that's good," Harriet encouraged. "But I don't know if I'm the girl for it."

"I'm not using you as a rebound," Scorpius hurriedly insisted. "I—I'm not _using_ you, I genuinely really like you, I promise, it's just—"

"I'm not Rose," Harriet finished for him.

Silence hung between them, despite the gentle sounds of the other couples in the tea shop. Harriet's hands were still clasping Scorpius' atop the table. He looked to her, feeling embarrassed, feeling weak, feeling… _young._ Like a child. Like a lost little boy.

Harriet really was very pretty. Her smile was so kind, and her eyes were so blue.

Scorpius leant in slowly and lingered, just like that day in the library, so Harriet knew what was coming—so she could back out if she wanted. But she didn't. She too lingered, her breath sweet from the tea.

And when Scorpius kissed her, it was gentle, and tender, and romantic, unlike those furious snogs with the other two girls.

And when it was over, they both lingered, and Scorpius felt his heart sink.

"You're not over Rose," Harriet whispered sadly, still only a breath apart, speaking aloud the only thought that dominated Scorpius' mind.

"No," he whispered back, his throat feeling tight with disappointment. Sweet as the kiss may have been, even his weakest, most meaningless kiss with Rose (if ever there was such a one) had had the intensity of a thousand burning stars. The kind of power you couldn't create with a wand. The kind of magic Hogwarts just couldn't teach.

Harriet kissed Scorpius' cheek before removing herself from the booth. "Bye, Scorpius," she said softly. And as suddenly as she'd entered his life, she was gone.

Scorpius sat in that booth hours after Harriet had left, heart shattered—not by her, but by a girl with hair as red as fire and a whole constellation of freckles dotted across her cheeks—capable of nothing but staring at the spot where the girl had left.

The girl who was not Rose Weasley.


	5. Girl No 2 (Reprise)

**Chapter 5 – Girl No. 2 (Reprise)**

* * *

In between Harriet and Girl No. 4, Scorpius kissed Lyra Aldebaran once more—the last time he would do so. It had been unintentional, just as it had been the first time—a moment of rare emotional connection with her. And though it had certainly meant more than the first time he'd kissed her, it still hadn't felt as real as even his weakest kiss with Rose.

She had been crying, you see. Lyra, that was. Scorpius had found her outside the Slytherin Common Room one evening after he'd been traipsing back after a particularly damp and muddy Quidditch practice. He was so exhausted, so drained, both physically and emotionally, that he almost didn't see her. He almost walked straight past.

Still in his Quidditch gear, dripping muddy water onto the pristine stone floor (which no doubt Filch would murder him for later), Scorpius noticed the sobbing heap by the door. Due to her small physique, he initially assumed it to be a younger student and was torn. This girl was clearly in distress, and on one hand, he didn't feel at all comfortable consoling small crying girls, but on the other hand, he was morally bound, and probably duty bound considering he was a Prefect, to not just simply ignore her. What kind of person would that make him?

So rather tentatively, Scorpius stopped and peered down at the girl. "Are you, err—?" he began, but something stopped him. Something about the thick black ponytail atop her head seemed strikingly familiar to Scorpius. _"Lyra?"_

With a shaky breath and an unflattering sniffle, the girl raised her head. Her already tear-strained, emotionally-distressed expression morphed into one of even further torment as she recognised her companion. "Go _away_ , Scorpius," she ordered in the voice of a girl who had clearly been crying for a while.

Now Scorpius felt _really_ torn. As much as he disliked Lyra, and as much as he knew his presence when she was in such a state wasn't particularly wanted, he felt to leave her as she'd so aggressively commanded would be, again, morally wrong. Not that he knew the first thing about how to comfort crying girls—especially ones he had an awkward competitive relationship with—but Scorpius knew he needed to do _something._

He had never seen her like this. She was always so fierce, so confident, so _angry_ —he had never seen her falter in her emotions before. Even when they'd kissed, it has been fiery, full of rage. There had been no emotional vulnerability.

Not like this.

Scorpius settled down beside her on the few steps she was curled up on. Lyra said nothing. She made no protest, despite her former order to leave her alone, but made no acknowledgement that he was there either.

But she'd stopped crying. At least, she'd stopped _messily_ crying. The tears were leaking from her eyes as though someone hadn't quite fully turned a tap off. As though she was a fountain statue, with a gentle stream of water continuously flowing from her. She just looked sad, he thought. She just looked _tired_ , staring blankly at the corridor before her, her head resting against the wall.

"You smell like a wet dog," she said after a while, her voice fragile from all the crying. Scorpius wondered how long she'd been there before his arrival.

It was brave of her, he considered. Lyra lived her life by her reputation, her fierce, hardened attitude. And there she was, risking it all, crying outside the Slytherin Common Room. Anyone could have walked by. Anyone could have seen her.

And yet, he supposed, she just didn't care. What could have possibly happened?

"Yeah, well," Scorpius shrugged with a smile, mud and water pooling on the steps beneath him as it continued to roll off his Quidditch attire, "a committed player practises no matter the weather. Even if that weather happens to be torrential rain…"

"Where's the rest of the team?" Lyra asked, her head unmoving from where it was rested against the wall, her eyes unblinking, her voice as monotonous as before.

She looked slightly apprehensive, Scorpius acknowledged. Was she worried that in a couple of minutes the rest of the team would be hurtling around the corner? Was she not, then, as casual and emotionless about being exposed in her vulnerable state as Scorpius had initially considered? It was a risky game to play, and Scorpius couldn't help but wonder _why_ she was daring to play it. Why torture herself like that? What exactly was she trying to achieve?

"It wasn't a team practice. It was just… me."

Lyra looked at him then, turning her head ever so slightly, though still resting it against the wall as though she didn't have the energy to fully raise it. She was no longer crying, Scorpius noted.

"You practised alone?" she scoffed. "In the rain?"

Scorpius had been practising Quidditch alone a lot recently. He found it therapeutic. It was something to do, something to occupy his mind so he didn't get caught up in thoughts of…

"Yeah," he said simply, waiting for Lyra's wicked tongue to emerge and sneer at him for being a loser or whatever unsavoury term she'd deem him this time. "It, err, I don't know, it helps me," he said, unsure as to why he was really opening up to her. Maybe it was her being so emotionally open that made him feel suddenly vulnerable.

"Yeah?" Lyra asked simply, no ounce of venom or sarcasm in her tone.

Scorpius nodded. "You could try it," he suggested. "Flying is a lot more therapeutic than you think. Just floating around above the grounds, away from the rest of the world… It's peaceful. It's… calming."

"And you can always attempt to drown yourself if it rains."

Scorpius was so alarmed by her comment that he was grateful to see Lyra was actually smiling when he looked at her. Just a small smile, but a smile nonetheless. "Well," he grinned back, raising his still-dripping arms, "I've had no such luck."

Lyra continued to smile before emitting a sigh and finally lifting her head from the wall, shifting her bodyweight so she was sat upright beside Scorpius. "Flying's not for me," she dismissed. "Never could do it, never really wanted to try."

"That's fair enough," Scorpius considered. It wasn't like he really _wanted_ to get Lyra into flying—God forbid she ended up on the Slytherin Quidditch team with him! "People have different ways of coping with different things," he mused, feeling suddenly a little saddened himself. Is that why he'd done it?—he thought. Stayed out to practice even in the pouring rain? Because he was trying to punish himself? To drown out some part of him?

"You should go," Lyra announced suddenly, bringing Scorpius back from his existential musings.

"Go?" he repeated in confusion.

"Yeah, go and shower, idiot. I told you, you smell like a wet dog. And whatever it is that's making you stay—chivalry or curiosity or—well, whatever—I don't need you, okay? I'll be fine," she insisted, rolling her eyes. "I'm a big girl."

It was the first sort of acknowledgement that Lyra had even been crying, and Scorpius wasn't sure how to respond.

"You know me, I just can't resist a damsel in distress."

Lyra snorted. "Well, I'm neither."

"Really?" Scorpius probed. "Because you don't exactly look euphoric to me."

" _Euphoric?"_ Lyra snorted again. "I could say the same for you, Romeo. You look miserable. Constantly. Every single day, I see you. You look lost."

Something knotted in Scorpius' stomach. It was getting a little too personal for his liking. As much as he wasn't entirely comfortable with discussing Lyra's emotional problems with her, he was decidedly highly uncomfortable with discussing _his_ emotional problems with her. He had been refusing to confront his own emotional imbalance as of late within himself, let alone discuss it with another human being. And especially not Lyra. He had barely even interacted with her since that spontaneous and heated kiss…

"What's wrong, Lyra?" Scorpius demanded, straight to the point, refusing to acknowledge her last comments. He looked at her sharply, and she looked taken aback in response. "And don't lie to me and tell me it's nothing because whatever's upsetting you clearly isn't."

Lyra looked stunned, perhaps by the change of focus from Scorpius back to herself, or perhaps from the bluntness with which Scorpius spoke. And to his great surprise, Lyra did not refuse to answer. Nor did she answer nastily, or dismissively, or in any number of ways he might have expected from her.

Instead, her eyes glossed over, tears filling to the brim, and she looked as sad, and lost, and pained as Rose had always looked in her most vulnerable state. And something inside Scorpius broke because of it.

"I did something terrible," Lyra whispered, eyes wide and glistening with tears, mouth parted as though she were afraid. Scorpius was certainly unprepared for her next words. "I fell in love." And her voice broke. "I fell in love with the wrong person."

Scorpius said nothing, unsure _what_ to say. Eventually, he offered a sad sort of smile. "Well," he sighed, "haven't we all?"

"They broke my heart," Lyra went on, as though discussing her innermost feelings was something she and Scorpius frequently did. "Tonight, actually. I got dumped." She said this last comment with gentle laughter, as though it was the funniest thing in the world to her rather than something that had been causing her extreme emotional agony just moments before. "Which, I suppose," she went on, "is my own fault really. Because I _let_ myself fall for someone I knew I couldn't have."

Scorpius had so many questions. Who was this mysterious 'they' who Lyra had admittedly been seeing, loved, and had her heart broken by? Was it the same person she'd been sneaking out to see before? And what were the circumstances? Why had the relationship been so complicated, so _forbidden_ , and eventually come to an end?

And why—perhaps the question most eating away at Scorpius' mind—was Lyra so openly telling him all of this?

"Do you want the hard-core painful truth or some soppy feel-good lies?"

Lyra laughed again, wiping away the few tears that had managed to escape during her confession. "I want the truth. Hit me."

"Because life is _unfair_ ," Scorpius said, looking straight ahead. "Because life is a miserable, stubborn _bitch._ Because we can't choose who we fall in love with and when we do, _of course_ , it's not something easy. _Of course_ it's not someone we can be genuinely happy with, _of course_ it's not someone everyone who matters to us loves and adores, _of course_ it's someone our parents don't approve of, or someone we have to lie about being with, or someone that tears your whole _world_ apart. And of course," he said shakily, still staring resolutely ahead, "it's someone we can't have. Someone who we lose. Someone who we'll never be truly over…"

There was silence. Scorpius' heart was aching. He didn't even care about Lyra by his side, who was just as silent as he now was.

The truth, Scorpius thought, was a painful thing. And one he had been trying to avoid for some time now.

"Well, you're a barrel of laughs," Lyra said eventually.

Scorpius finally looked back at her, offering a sad sort of smile. "Hey," he said, "you wanted the truth. I'm only telling you what I know to be true."

Lyra considered it. "Your problems really put mine into perspective."

"I'm glad to be of help."

There was another moment of silence. Until Lyra spoke in a quiet but unnervingly sincere voice. "Thank you."

Scorpius wasn't really sure what to say. He wasn't sure he'd helped Lyra in any way. All he'd done was twist the situation into feeling sorry for himself. And as Lyra had pointed out earlier, he just felt lost.

"Do you think we're punished because we're Slytherins?" Lyra piped up, oddly cheerful.

"Must be," Scorpius sighed, thinking of James. Of Sam, of Albus. "I've never seen the Gryffindors suffer like this."

And then he thought of Rose and frowned.

"Bastards," Lyra said light-heartedly.

"Yeah," Scorpius agreed. " _Bastards."_

Both of them sighed so in sync that they looked at each other sharply. And then both broke into smiles. Scorpius wouldn't ever consider Lyra a friend, he knew, but she was alright really.

"So how come you're out here moping anyway? Right outside the Common Room? Why not, you know, just go in? Did you forget the password or something?"

"No," Lyra dismissed, looking amused. "I didn't want to go in. I didn't feel like I belonged there."

"In the common room?"

"In Slytherin." She hesitated before elaborating. "I felt like I'd betrayed my house."

 _Who_ was this mysterious person Lyra had been involved with?—Scorpius desperately wondered. But he knew he couldn't ask. And he knew Lyra wouldn't tell him anyway. Instead, he said, "It's okay, you get over it."

"Do you?" Lyra inquired in a scrutinising matter.

Scorpius nervously wrung his hands together. "Well, I mean, I hope so. I'm still working on it."

The last of the muddy water had just about dripped from Scorpius' Quidditch gear, leaving a rather vast and ugly pool at the bottom of the steps. He supposed he should clean it up. Filch would kill him otherwise, and he didn't want anybody to slip on it.

"I should probably clean this up," he voiced aloud, hoping Lyra wasn't still in need of comfort. Not that Scorpius had really _done_ that much comforting, he thought to himself

"And take a shower, _please_."

Scorpius grinned. "You mean the drowned rat look isn't working for me?"

"Oh, it's not even the look, it's the _smell,_ " Lyra said, jokingly gagging.

"Hey, some girls are drawn to the irresistible, athletic, _manly_ smell of Quidditch players."

"Not this one," Lyra countered. "And that's sexist."

"What?"

"Implying that only men are Quidditch players."

Scorpius blinked in surprise and then grinned again. "Not true," he insisted. "I merely meant that women, in my experience, always smell nice. Even after a vigorous training session."

"Somehow that still seems sexist."

"I think you're just trying to make me look bad."

"I think you make yourself look bad."

Scorpius, still grinning, was about to stand up and finally take his leave, when Lyra said to him perhaps the most surprising thing she'd said all evening. "What do I smell like?"

Scorpius hesitated. Were they still teasing each other? Was he supposed to give a humorous derogatory answer? But Lyra, for whatever reason, looked deadly serious. A sudden heat flushed Scorpius' neck. Where was she going with this?

Unperturbed, he leant in, inhaled deeply, and prayed that nobody entered the corridor at that moment. Lyra didn't really have a definitive smell, but it's not as though Scorpius frequently went around associating aromas with people.

 _Apart from one._

He thought of vanilla. He had never been sure, really, whether she had actually smelt of vanilla, or whether he had just subconsciously imagined it because it was a pleasant smell, and she was a pleasant girl, and he…

Scorpius cursed at himself. Could he not go even one hour without thinking about Rose Weasley?

Sensing that Lyra wanted an answer, Scorpius tried to think of something pleasant. Not Vanilla. Chocolate?

Scorpius glanced at Lyra, with her almost-black hair and her smooth, dark complexion. He did not think telling her she smelt like chocolate would go down too well, and would likely earn him a well-deserved jinx.

"You smell… nice," he said awkwardly instead, trying to think of less offensive ice cream flavours. "Kind of like, err, mint."

"Mint?" Lyra looked surprised.

"Yeah," Scorpius lied. "And who doesn't like mint?"

Lyra looked briefly satisfied, and then she was frowning again. "And I'm pretty?"

Scorpius could feel his palms starting to sweat, which he didn't think would go down too well with his already unpleasant fragrance. What was Lyra doing, though?

He looked at her, he _really_ looked at her. And she _was_ pretty. More than just pretty. He didn't think he'd ever seen a girl with smoother skin, not even Ebony. Not a blemish or freckle in sight. Not that he didn't _mind_ freckles.

And her eyes, though dark, were just as easy to get lost in as those pools of blue he so favoured. When she smiled, Scorpius thought she was probably one of the prettiest girls in Slytherin, for sure. He'd always thought no one could compare to Ebony, but she was so _obviously_ beautiful. Lyra was the kind of beautiful that, because she was so mean—so fierce, and snappy, and stubborn—you had to be prepared to _really_ look at to appreciate her beauty. But it was there. It was definitely there.

"Of course," he insisted.

"Then why," Lyra said, with her shakiest breath yet, eyes glittering with tears once more, and a look so haunted and tortured that something inside Scorpius broke, "wasn't I enough?"

Scorpius, for perhaps the hundredth time that evening, didn't know what to say. So he didn't say anything, he just leant in. Lyra's eyelashes were so long that Scorpius felt them brush against him as she closed her eyes. Closing his eyes too, he tried to go by touch alone.

He let his lips brush against hers, shyly, tentatively, without all the anger and aggression of their last embrace, asking for permission, unlike last time. Lyra did not seem alarmed by this move and did not draw away.

So Scorpius deepened it, unsure exactly what he was even kissing Lyra for. It couldn't be curiosity—he'd already done so before of course. _Though not like this,_ he thought. Was it really for him?—he wondered. Or for her?

Because she had been so sad, and she had so badly wanted validation, and Scorpius didn't have the words to tell her that there _were_ people who desired her, who wanted to be with her, even if that wasn't necessarily himself.

Scorpius tried to let his senses take over. Forget that it was Lyra he was kissing. Forget all the pain and self-doubt he'd been feeling over the past months. Maybe he needed the validation himself, he wondered. Maybe _he_ needed to feel what it was like to be wanted again. To be needed.

The gentle brush of her eyelashes against his skin let Scorpius know Lyra had opened her eyes. And so he did too, pulling away, knowing it was over. She just stared at him with an impossible-to-read expression, a thousand emotions in her eyes—sadness, confusion, despair, tenderness—and yet also nothing at all. Just numb emptiness.

And then she started to laugh.

Scorpius let out a gentle laugh too, feeling somewhat relieved. He didn't want to make a habit of kissing Lyra. He wasn't sure it was wholly satisfying for either of them. But sometimes you just needed to kiss someone who was as lost and empty as yourself. Sometimes you just needed to feel wanted.

"I think I'll go take that shower now." Scorpius stood up before he could let himself stay any longer.

"Wow, I didn't think I'd have that much of an effect on you."

Scorpius just rolled his eyes, smirking slightly. With a flick of his wand, the muddy pool was gone.

"Pity you can't do that with the smell."

"That's what the shower's for."

Scorpius made it all the way to the door before he turned back. He felt like something more needed to be said. He couldn't just kiss her and leave. "Lyra, there's someone out there for you."

She was still on the stairs but had huddled her knees to her chest and wrapped her body around them like a little girl. She cocked her head at his comment.

"I know what it's like to lose someone you love more than anything in the world," he said shakily. "And maybe I don't know yet, how exactly you get over it, but I'm sure I will. And I'm sure you will."

"Thank you, Scorpius," Lyra said softly.

Scorpius seemed unable to stop himself going on, even though he sensed he should stop. "You _will_ find someone," he assured her, "no matter how many people you have to kiss in-between."

"You think so?"

"Yeah. Definitely. I mean, err," he added awkwardly, "not, like, _me_ , obviously, but—"

"Scorpius, I'm not interested in you," Lyra interrupted before he dug himself into a hole.

Scorpius wasn't sure if he should feel relieved or insulted. "Okay, yeah, good. You'll find the right guy. Who's _not_ me," he added with a smile.

Lyra continued to stare at him. "Scorpius, I'm not interested in guys at all."

Scorpius, not entirely understanding, just stared back at her in confusion.

"It was a girl," Lyra elaborated. "You were right last time. She's in Ravenclaw."

Still at a loss for words, Scorpius just continued staring. Lyra snorted under her breath until he broke out into a confused, uneasy smile. "Wait, so—?"

"Scorpius," Lyra said one last time, deeply amused.

"Yeah?"

"Don't ever kiss me again."

And he never did.


	6. Girl No 4

**Chapter 6 – Girl No. 4**

* * *

Summer had come at last, and Scorpius couldn't be more relieved. As much as he loved Hogwarts with all his heart and soul, he just needed to get away. What had once been the happiest place in the world to him now just made him feel lost and empty, a ghost of the place he associated with only the most tender of memories. And also the most painful.

Not that his home life had ever been particularly soothing, but Scorpius craved the confines of his family mansion. His last few months at Hogwarts had been lonely indeed. Being around his parents—his family—was what he needed now. His mother would certainly be much warmer to him now that Rose was out of his life. He just hoped she wouldn't go on about it too much. He needed to truly forget about her and move on. He needed a worthy distraction.

And, bizarrely enough, his mother had the perfect one waiting for him.

"I've got you a summer job," she declared almost the moment Scorpius stepped off the Hogwarts Express. It drew his attention away from the crowd of redheads he'd spotted at the edge of the platform.

"You—what?"

Astoria placed her hands on the side of Scorpius' face like he was a lot younger than he was and looked more delighted than he'd ever seen her before. "In Diagon Alley," she breathed excitedly. "Dervish and Banges."

No greeting?—Scorpius wondered. No expression of delight or warm embrace?

But then again, he reminded himself, this _was_ his mother. And this greeting was by far the warmest he'd ever received on the platform.

"Where's Dad?" Scorpius asked, rather than respond to his mother's enthusiastic declaration.

Astoria looked a little put-out. "At work," she said curtly, clearly not fond of the fact that her son seemed less than appreciative of what she'd supposedly done for him. But before either she or Scorpius could say any more on the matter, Serephina had arrived on the platform, a spring in her step.

A week later, Scorpius had nervously arrived at Dervish and Banges for his first day of work. He couldn't be entirely sure why his mother had gone so out of her way to procure him a job in Diagon Alley, but he had the deepest feeling of suspicion that it was somehow to do with Rose. Even though they were long broken up (and Astoria was _thrilled_ by that fact—but perturbed he'd also ended things with Ebony), given the drama the summer previously, which had very narrowly avoided landing Scorpius a spot in Azkaban, Astoria clearly wasn't taking any chances. And with a summer job, Scorpius' time would be completely occupied.

The logic that this would somehow keep him away from Rose was flawed, of course. Scorpius could think of _many_ ways he could get around this complication in order to see her if he really wanted to. But, of course, he wouldn't be seeing her. Because they weren't together.

Not anymore.

But truthfully, Scorpius was grateful for his mother's meddling in this instance. He needed something to occupy his time with. He needed something to distract himself and keep him busy. And a job would be perfect for that. And hey, he'd even get to earn money for doing it! So all in all, he was grateful for the opportunity. It would give him something to do that summer.

Scorpius had all but given up on his quest to get over Rose by hooking up with some other girl. Clearly, he wasn't having any luck with it. And after all, what did he want the complication of girls and relationships for anyway? A bit of time on his own would do him good, he'd decided. He had his own life to focus on now—girls had only ever gotten him in trouble!

"You the new guy?"

Scorpius was greeted by a middle-aged wizard who looked slightly disgruntled. "Err, yeah—Scorpius," he introduced, unsure whether to shake the man's hand or not.

But the older wizard just looked down at him.

Scorpius gulped. What exactly had Astoria done in order to procure him this job? He seriously hoped she hadn't threatened or blackmailed this man…

"Can you do magic?"

 _Of course I can do magic,_ Scorpius thought in anger. _Do I really look that young or incompetent?_ But that was it, he realised. Do magic he might, but only at Hogwarts. He was still sixteen. And that's what he told the man, who looked further irritated.

"You'll be no good with repairs then," he drawled. "You'll have to help with the storage in the basement or up front with the sales."

Dervish and Banges was the best shop in Diagon Alley for magical instruments—Sneakoscopes and dark detectors and such. Not only did they sell them, they also repaired them. It was a fascinating shop and Scorpius had frequented it over the years, but he could already feel the impending dullness of being stuck in the basement hauling boxes around for the next six weeks. Being up front dealing with customers didn't sound too appealing either. But then again, what had he really expected from working in a shop?

And suddenly Scorpius wondered if this wasn't just some elaborate punishment for all that had happened last year…

"Go down and meet Xo," the wizard went on. "She'll tell you what to do. Try not to screw up. Try not to need me."

And with that, he was gone, leaving Scorpius to wonder how exactly he got down to the basement, and who exactly 'Xo' was. But both his queries were answered shortly after as he noticed the stairs near the back of the shop, and after he'd descended them with great trepidation, the girl who was down there.

Scorpius was shocked. A little too shocked. He hadn't even considered there might be a girl working alongside him, and much less that she'd be a similar age to him. "Oh," he said after he'd almost walked into her.

She was short, was the first thing Scorpius noted. He was pretty tall for his age, but she was definitely shorter than average, and his experiences with shorter girls had proven them to be a lot more difficult than you'd necessarily assume. And she was tanned. He seemed to have always been around girls with very pale skin, like Rose and Ebony, Lily and Serephina—heck, even Professor Bobbin!—or the beautifully dark-skinned Lyra, but never tanned. Too tanned for England, Scorpius thought. Perhaps she wasn't from around here. Perhaps she wasn't even British.

But her hair took away from anything else. It was cropped very short for a girl. And it was the same caramel colour as her skin, but with a notable blonde highlight through the fringe that swept across her forehead. It looked, well, _cool_ , Scorpius thought lamely. Kind of edgy and punky. The only person he'd seen with any kind of similar haircut at Hogwarts was Jinx, and that was because she was a Metamorphmagus and experimented with a different hairstyle almost every day. He had become overly familiar with long, wavy hair, the likes of which Rose, Ebony, Harriet, even Lyra, had always sported.

"New guy?" the girl asked as she spotted the still-shocked Scorpius, a cardboard box cradled in her arms.

Her voice had a sort of raspy lilt to it, as though her hair didn't already make her cool enough. _Pull yourself together,_ Scorpius fiercely ordered himself. _You're not five, for Merlin's sake._

"Yeah—Scorpius," he repeated almost identically to just a few minutes ago. He extended a hand, acknowledged the box in her arms, and retracted it immediately, blushing and feeling like a total idiot.

But the girl was smirking, and not in a mean way. "I'm Xo," she introduced.

"Xo?"

"Short for Xiomara."

"Zee—uh— _what?"_ Scorpius asked, feeling dumber by the second.

The girl was still smirking. " _Zee—oh—mah—ra,"_ she said slowly and with a slight accent. "It's Spanish. But yeah, call me Xo. Like _Zo._ "

Merlin, everything about this girl was so _cool_ , Scorpius found himself thinking once more, not even caring how stupid and young he felt. Her hair, her name—where were the girls like this at Hogwarts?

"You must get that a lot, I'm sorry," Scorpius apologised, but he was smiling now, desperate to feel at ease around her.

Xo shrugged it off, the box still in her arms. "The English struggle with a lot of Spanish names."

"So you're Spanish, then?"

"Half and half. My mum is Spanish, my dad is British. I can speak it fluently," she declared a little smugly, as though this might impress Scorpius.

It did.

"You know, you'd think given all the Latin in spells and stuff, we'd be a bit better with foreign languages, but we're very stubborn us British."

"Couldn't agree more," Xo said cheerily, and Scorpius liked her more with each passing second. Maybe this summer job would not be so unbearable after all. At least he'd have a companion his age.

But she must be older, he realised, because he'd never seen her at Hogwarts. Or maybe she hadn't even gone to Hogwarts, he considered. Was there a wizarding school in Spain?

"Hey—Scorpius, is it? You here to work or not?"

Scorpius blinked in surprise. Had he zoned out? God, he hoped he hadn't looked like an idiot. "Oh, right, yeah, of course," he said hurriedly, feeling himself turning pink.

Xo was still smiling though. "Take this box," she ordered. "It's a bit heavy; it's full of Foe-Glasses. We've got to sort through all the new shipments that just came in. Sneakoscopes, Foe-Glasses, Remembralls—you get the idea. And we've got to label them all, prices and warnings. You'd be surprised what kind of idiots buy this stuff and don't know how to use it!"

Scorpius just snorted, struggling for something witty or cool to say in response, something that might impress her.

"You old enough to do magic?"

"Err, no," Scorpius admitted, feeling incredibly inadequate. "I'm sixteen. Nearly seventeen, though," he lied. _In six months._

Xo looked at him with pity. "Ah, you're only a baby!" she exclaimed, making Scorpius feel further patronised. "Well, sucks to be you—you'll have to do it all by hand. But no worries, I'll help you as best I can."

So she was definitely of age, Scorpius thought, feeling deeply embarrassed now. Was sixteen really so young?

He took the box from her and carried it over to where she'd pointed out. It _was_ heavy, but he'd be damned if he let Xo see him struggle with it. Scorpius didn't think he could handle further embarrassment. "So, you're, err, no longer at Hogwarts?" he casually piped up, eager for more information on this mysterious, edgy girl.

"Hogwarts?" Xo repeated with a fond grin. "Merlin, not by a longshot."

Exactly how old _was_ she?

"I'm twenty-four," Xo announced, as though she'd read Scorpius' mind.

Scorpius was so shocked, he almost dropped the box of Foe-Glasses on his foot. To mask the movement he lowered it to the floor like he'd always intended to do so. _Twenty-four?_ That was eight years older than him. _Eight!_ That was half his age. This girl had lived an additional half of Scorpius' age to him.

He glanced back at her. She didn't _look_ that much older, but perhaps that was just her height. She could definitely pass for under twenty. Not that twenty-four was particularly _old_ or anything, but something about her face was so youthful. An earlier query came to mind.

"What?" Xo asked in amusement after Scorpius had been staring at her for some time.

"Oh." Scorpius looked away, embarrassed. Why was he acting like such an idiot? "No, I was just wondering—are you a Metamorphmagus? It's just—my friend's one," he went on, not exactly sure why he was doing so, "and you look a bit like her."

"Well, I'm _flattered_ that you think this face was a choice, but I'm afraid not."

 _Oh God, he_ was _being a total idiot._

"It's the hair, isn't it?" Xo said kindly.

Scorpius just gave a sheepish grin.

"You know, I get that a lot actually. It's like witches and wizards in this day and age can't be _fun_ anymore. Have you seen the Muggles recently? They know what they're doing."

Scorpius didn't know if this was a rhetorical question or not. But no, he hadn't seen the Muggles. He rarely saw Muggles. In fact, Scorpius wasn't entirely convinced he ever _had_ seen a genuine Muggle. He opened his mouth to say so, but Xo's attention was back on the boxes and she was thinking out loud.

"You know, being a Metamorphmagus would be cool and all, and save a hell of a lot of money, but in all honesty, I'm not that jealous. I like the way I look, you know? I'd feel too much pressure to change every aspect of my appearance every single day and that would just get boring. Oh, no offence to your friend," she added quickly, turning to apologise to Scorpius.

"None taken," Scorpius replied in a sort of daze, awed by this girl. He'd been stretching it pretty thin to call Jinx a friend anyway.

But this girl, Xo—Xiomara—there was something so indescribable about her that captured Scorpius' awe and attention. Maybe it was because she was older, maybe it was because she was half Spanish—it could have been any number of things—but he'd never met a girl like this before. Or maybe he shouldn't even think of her as a girl. A _woman._

Girls at Hogwarts suddenly seemed so immature to him, so plain and uninteresting. Rose Weasley was far from his mind.

And normally Scorpius felt like he had the upper hand. Not to be arrogant, but he'd always thought the other girls in question looked up to him, admired him. Or else he matched them in attitude. He could be as cocky or as stubborn as they were. But with Xo, he felt completely out of his depth, like the young schoolboy he clearly was.

Just the fact that she radiated confidence in the way that she did. Scorpius had always found himself to be drawn to girls who weren't afraid to be overemotional around him. Even the most stubborn—even Lyra and Ebony. Every girl he'd interacted with over the past year, there had been a clear underlying vulnerability beneath them all, whether it be shyness or insecurity or something similar. But not Xo. God, no, her attitude was something new for him, something to be admired.

"You know," Xo said after a while. She said that a lot, Scorpius quickly picked up. She flashed him a wicked sort of grin. "I think we're going to have a lot of fun this summer."

Scorpius couldn't agree more.

And indeed, summer passed quickly with Xo by his side. Scorpius couldn't have been more thrilled by Astoria's interference in his life. He despaired at the thought of what a bore his summer would have been without his job at Dervish and Banges. Normally he spent a lot of time with Ebony over the summer, but ever since their 'breakup' things hadn't been the most comfortable between them.

Scorpius didn't know, exactly, what her relationship with James Potter was, nor did he really want to know, but he couldn't help but feel a great sense of loss. But maybe that was for the best, he realised. He needed some distance from both Rose _and_ Ebony, after having arguably more than he needed of both.

And anyway, now he had Xo.

Not that their relationship was _anything_ like either of his relationships with Rose and Ebony. Xo was a colleague after all, and eight years older. He'd given up on pursuing girls in that way anymore and he clearly wasn't going to be catching _her_ eye in that way. If only!

And Scorpius wasn't attracted to Xo like that anyway. She was definitely something to look at—and he was grateful for that indeed. He wasn't sure he'd necessarily call her _pretty_ or _beautiful._ It wasn't that she wasn't attractive, it's just that she was so much more than those words seemed to imply. They seemed overly feminine, and Xo was so much edgier, so much cooler than that. Rose had been pretty. Beautiful, even. She _was_ beautiful. And Ebony—well, Ebony was stunning. Striking in appearance.

But Xo was… _hot_. If he didn't think that was such a crass term, that's what Scorpius would have thought. _Sexy_ , if that was appropriate for him to think. _Well, what did he care, he could think whatever he wanted_ , he smirked to himself one evening. And it wasn't just her physical appearance, she really did have something Hogwarts girls of his age just didn't have. Maybe Scorpius had been going about this all wrong. Maybe he should have been pursuing older girls this whole time.

Moving and pricing the stock hadn't been nearly as dull as Scorpius had feared with Xo by his side. His boss and the other staff seemed to leave them to it down in the basement—no one else wanted to do it—and Scorpius resented the days he was on the shop floor serving the customers.

Xo and he had a very fun, banterous relationship. He'd even dare to say flirty at times. But all in good fun, of course. He found he was very comfortable around her, and she with him. He looked _forward_ to coming to work. They just joked around all day. And he was getting _paid_ for it!

Which is why, by the time their final day of work together rolled around, Scorpius felt really quite hollow at the idea of never returning. At least, not until next summer maybe.

"It's gone quickly," Xo mused.

"Too quickly," Scorpius agreed.

But with all the boxes unpacked, all the new stock labelled, priced, and quite a lot of it sold already, Scorpius' time at Dervish and Banges was complete. He really hadn't expected it to be as much fun as it had. He thought he might hug Xo before he left. That seemed like a nice gesture.

As evening was upon them, Scorpius reached for his jacket, thinking about how he'd be catching the Hogwarts Express in just a few days' time. And for the first time in his life, the thought of returning to Hogwarts didn't exactly thrill him as it always had done.

"Are you not—leaving?" Scorpius asked in confusion as Xo made no move to gather her bag or put her jacket on. They always walked out together.

"Oh, no, not just yet, not tonight," she explained. "I've got to lock up."

"Oh okay. Do you… need any help or anything?" Somehow, Scorpius just couldn't find it in himself to walk away from her. Not with knowing that it would be the last time he'd do so.

"Umm, sure," Xo decided. "You can hit some of the lights for me. Make sure all the doors are locked on the shop floor and we can go out the back."

Scorpius did so, wondering who he'd share his summer experience with when he went back to Hogwarts. Who would he tell about the exotic girl with the Spanish name and the cool pixie cut? Would Albus really care? Would Jinx, or Ebony, or Albireo? He doubted it.

Making his way back down to the basement to see if Xo was ready, Scorpius was surprised to find the basement in semi-darkness, with Xo sat cross-legged atop one of the counters along the side, an open bottle in her hand.

"What's that?" he asked in amusement.

"Firewhisky," Xo answered cheerfully. "You want some?"

Scorpius wasn't a huge drinker. He'd seen what it had done to the likes of Jinx and Ebony—even Rose. And he wasn't sure he liked the way he acted whenever he had it. "I'm underage," he said with a wicked grin, approaching the counter.

"Ah, go on, be a rebel."

Despite himself, maybe because he wanted to impress this oh-so-cool girl he'd grown so fond of, Scorpius heaved himself atop the counter beside her and took the bottle from her hands. The Firewhisky burned his throat, not as unpleasant as he'd always known it to be, but still, he didn't want too much. Just imagine the hell his mother would give him if he returned home reeking of alcohol.

"See, I knew it was in you to break the rules," Xo teased.

 _If only she knew_ , Scorpius thought. He almost wanted to tell her about his trial last summer and how he'd nearly been imprisoned in Azkaban. No doubt that would shock and impress her. But then he'd have to explain to her how he'd been accused of being a Death Eater after accidentally branding him with Lord Voldemort's mark, and the appeal slipped away.

"Where did you even get this?" he asked, handing the bottle back to her.

Xo took another swig. "It was in the office. I didn't think anyone would notice if I took it."

Well, Scorpius didn't care, he thought rebelliously. It was his last day, after all.

"You know, it really won't be the same without you, Scorpius," Xo sighed, turning to him with a subdued smile. "It's been nice to be around someone my age. It made a fun change."

"Not _quite_ your age," Scorpius couldn't help but poke fun at her. "I mean, you're practically an old lady compared to me."

"Hey!" Xo protested, flicking her sweeping blonde-streaked fringe out of her eyes in a way that eerily reminded Scorpius of Janey. He tried not to dwell on it too much. "I'm not old. And anyway, some people are into older women, you know," she teased, raising her eyebrows.

"I can't imagine why."

Xo was giggling. Scorpius wondered how much Firewhisky she'd had. "Oh, I can think of several reasons," she said, taking another swig.

Scorpius was feeling just as teasing. "Oh yeah, like what?" he challenged.

Xo gave him the side-eye, her mouth stretching into a wide, mischievous grin. "We're much more experienced," she said suggestively.

Scorpius was grateful he hadn't taken a swig of Firewhisky, certain he would have just spat it out if he had. Xo and he were always flirty, always jokey—it was because there were both young—but she wasn't…? She wasn't _coming onto_ _him?_

 _Was_ she?

Not in any seriousness, Scorpius decided. It was just a joke. They were friends.

But he wasn't so sure…

He glanced at her, nervously gulping. Where was the confidence he had managed to exude around all those other girls? Why was he acting like he was _twelve_ and not sixteen? There was no way Xo was into him, Scorpius quickly realised. He was getting _way_ over his head.

But she was looking at him in a way that said otherwise. Eyelashes lowered, mouth slightly parted, eyeing him up and down like she was some kind of lioness. And when she next spoke, her voice low and suggestive, with that sexy raspy lilt, it was almost a purr. "Do you want me to show you?"

Xo moved like lightning, the half-empty bottle of Firewhisky slipping from her hand and clattering to the floor. In seconds—before Scorpius could truly acknowledge what she'd said, what she'd offered, let alone think about how he might respond to it—he was lying on his back, pinned to the hard countertop by the girl eight years older than him.

 _Well,_ he just about had time to think, _this was different._ And then he thought of little else. Because the exotic, mysterious, _edgy_ girl he had worked so closely with and so admired over the past six weeks was atop him, grasping at the front of his shirt, her wicked mouth against his.

Xo hadn't been lying. Scorpius could only imagine this was how girls with eight years of experience on him knew how to kiss. He might have been so arrogant as to think his recent exploits made him a bit of pro, but he was clearly being proven wrong.

 _Oh God_ , he suddenly thought. _What if Xo thought he was a lousy kisser. Just an inexperienced little school boy._

But she seemed to be enjoying herself. She kissed with an urgency, a desperation, and yet it was so controlled, so skilful that he could tell she knew exactly what she was doing. The taste of Firewhisky burned Scorpius' lips, but in some way, it made it all the more pleasant.

He didn't even have time to think about _why_ Xo was kissing him, or even if that's what he'd been secretly longing for the whole time. Maybe it was the Firewhisky, though neither of them had really had that much, or maybe it was just the thrill of knowing they might never see each other again. Maybe she was just into younger guys, Scorpius thought, feeling a little cocky. Maybe she was just into _him._

Scorpius had gotten so used to being the one to initiate it when it came to snogging girls, and then being the one in the control, the one leading, the one with the power, but this was new and refreshing and _exciting._ He was completely at Xo's mercy, pinned to the countertop like she really was a lioness, and he her prey. And she was _good_. God, she was good. She really knew how to use her tongue.

And her hands. From gripping his shirt, to running over his body, to winding through his hair, pulling her body closer to his, trapping him against the wooden surface, they were _everywhere._ And Scorpius loved it. He'd never felt so mature, so liberated, so… _desired._ He could feel her entire body pressed against his. Small she may be, but there was still a lot to explore.

She gripped his hands, guiding them, taking them places they had never been before.

Scorpius was starting to feel a little sweaty. _Had it always been so hot in the basement?_ He'd never noticed before. But then again, he'd never exactly been doing _this_ before, had he?

Xo's fingers were working their way down his shirt, and it was only after she was halfway done that Scorpius realised she'd been undoing his buttons. _That was new._ And with a lurch, a burst of strength he hadn't known she possessed, Xo had pulled Scorpius forwards so he was sat upright, still straddling him, still furiously making out.

Now that he wasn't trapped, Scorpius felt his arms wrap around Xo's body, cradling her back, feeling more in control than he previously had been, like they were now equally matched. _There was something about short girls._ But it became quickly apparent that Xo was still leading as she got to work with the rest of the buttons, running her hands smoothly over Scorpius' shoulders as she slipped the shirt off completely. He didn't even question it.

Scorpius had been shirtless around girls before. He had even kissed Rose when he'd been shirtless once (not that he was thinking of her in the slightest), but he suddenly felt very vulnerable. He wasn't ashamed, he didn't feel inadequate, and he was grateful that all that Quidditch training had provided him with just a little toning in his body. As long as Xo didn't open her eyes and feel blinded by how pale his skin was.

But Scorpius, for not the first time that evening, suddenly felt very exposed. And not just because he was shirtless. A girl had never undressed him before. He had never moved much beyond kissing, and really, given how Xo had been kissing him for the past few minutes, Scorpius was not sure he could say before then he'd ever _really_ kissed a girl. Not like this.

And now, he suddenly wasn't sure about what came next. Xo was a lot older than him, a _woman_ , he reminded himself. Everything had progressed so quickly. Did she… expect things? Did Scorpius want those same things?

 _Why not,_ he thought furiously. _A million sixteen-year-old boys would kill to be in his position right now. Why shouldn't he go for it? What did he have to lose?_

Xo took Scorpius by surprise by kissing his neck. Her breath hot and ragged against his skin, she trailed down from his jaw to his shoulder. And suddenly she stopped altogether. Only for a brief moment. But enough for Scorpius to open his eyes in confusion.

Xo was peering over his shoulder to better look at his back. Scorpius couldn't for the life of him imagine why.

"Oh, wow, cool tattoo," she breathed before pushing him back down onto the countertop with more aggression than Scorpius was prepared for. Shooting pain suddenly shot through his shoulder, right about where his tattoo was.

The tattoo he rarely saw because it was on the back of his shoulder, and thus frequently forgot about.

The tattoo he had gotten because of Rose. Because he loved her. Because he wanted to commemorate their relationship for as long as he lived. Because he had never loved anybody as much as he'd loved her, nor was he sure he could ever love someone as much as he'd loved her.

Scorpius pushed Xo away from him, struggling for breath. And not just because of the snogging, but because his heart suddenly felt like it had collapsed in on itself.

 _Rose._

Xo looked startled, still straddling his waist. She peered down at him in confusion.

"I can't," Scorpius panted. "I just… can't."

Xo looked more than annoyed. "What, do you have a girlfriend or something?"

"I had a girlfriend," Scorpius gulped, eyes wide and dazed as he stared up at the ceiling from on his back. "She was called Rose. She had red hair and freckles all over her face, and she had a terrible temper but she was the kindest person I know. And she was afraid of a lot of things, but you'd never be able to tell, because she was always so _brave_ , even when I was a complete coward by her side. And she did everything in extremes. She felt so much pain, and she felt so much fear, but she was so _tough_ , so brave, so _stubborn_ , and she loved with everything she had. And I…"

"Are clearly still not over her," Xo said in a sulky voice, as though she was the sixteen-year-old instead of him.

Scorpius felt incredibly self-conscious lying on his back, shirtless, a little sweaty from their vigorous session. His mouth was parted, his eyes still wide, unable to blink, as he just stared up at the ceiling thinking about everything he'd lost. And everything he would never have again. But he realised something. He didn't want those things—he didn't want what Xo was offering—unless they were with Rose.

Not that he would ever be with her again. In any kind of way. She hated him now, of course. He had to remember that.

And he wasn't sure why it had all come spilling out in the way it just had. But once he'd started describing her, Scorpius found he just couldn't stop. It was like something had possessed him.

With a sigh, Xo removed herself from astride Scorpius, and with a bit of shuffling, they were both sat side by side on the countertop, legs dangling down just as they had been before all the snogging. Scorpius was still uncomfortably aware that he was sitting there with no shirt on.

"I'm sorry—" Scorpius began.

" _Don't,"_ Xo snapped, like she was mad at him or something. She refused to look at him.

"I really loved her," Scorpius said, though he wasn't sure why.

Xo let out an exasperated sort of snort. "You're sixteen, Scorpius, what do you really know about love? There'll be plenty of other girls you'll _love;_ you'll never remember this one."

Scorpius was liking Xo less and less. They'd had a lot of fun over the past six weeks, and he'd thought it all genuine, but now he just felt used. Even though nothing had really happened.

He said nothing in response. He wasn't sure what he could say.

"So that's why you've got that tattoo," Xo murmured in understanding after a while. "A scorpion and a rose—I get it. She must have meant a lot to you."

"Yeah," Scorpius agreed, running a hand through his mussed-up hair to try and flatten it. His shoulder was still throbbing, but maybe that was a good thing. Maybe he needed a reminder. Despite all he'd been trying to forget, maybe he needed to remember it all. Remember who he was.

And a sixteen-year-old boy making out with a girl half his age older than him in the basement of Dervish and Banges wasn't who he wanted to be. It was probably what a _lot_ of people wanted to be, but not him.

"She meant everything to me."

Xo turned her head to look at Scorpius and offer a sad, apologetic smile. "She must have been a real bitch to end things with you."

Scorpius winced. He had never liked that word. "I broke up with her."

Xo looked surprised.

"I cheated on her, I begged her to come back, and then I ended things to be with the other girl."

She looked further confused. "You have a lot more issues than I initially thought," she snorted, almost sounding impressed.

"You have no idea."

For a few seconds, they just sat there in silence, legs swinging, an awkward but cathartic atmosphere between them. And then Scorpius was sliding down the countertop and buttoning his shirt back up.

"My mum will wonder where I am," he said, because of course he wanted to sound even younger and immature than Xo probably already thought he was. Scorpius scowled at himself, but he brushed it off quickly. What was the point? He would never see her again. He would only ever be some stupid sixteen-year-old who turned down a very good thing. He hoped Xo didn't feel embarrassed. He hoped he understood that it was his obsessive hang-up on Rose and not because she wasn't in any way desirable.

He opened his mouth to voice this to her, but she got there first. "I hope you get her back, Scorpius. Or get over her. Whichever's easiest."

Scorpius smiled. Truth be told, he wasn't even sure which of those scenarios he craved most.

"Thanks. And, err, thanks for making my summer fun."

Xo returned his smile. "It _was_ fun, wasn't it?"

Scorpius thought back to earlier and how he'd thought he might hug her before he left, but given all they'd just done, he wasn't sure it would really have the same impact. Instead, he offered her a final smile. And that was it.

And he walked away before he could stop himself, almost hearing a universal chorus of groans from all his male peers as he did so. He was an idiot, Scorpius thought, as he walked away from the girl who could have really given him a reason to forget his heartbreak. But maybe that wasn't what he wanted. Maybe he wanted to suffer.

Try as he might, and even after he'd stopped trying, he just couldn't get over her.

And Xo was great, but she wasn't Rose Weasley.


	7. Girl No 5

**Chapter 7 – Girl No. 5**

* * *

Annabel was his last.

Up until then, they'd all been drastically different in appearance to Rose—the nameless brunette Slytherin, Lyra with her dark skin and hair, Harriet the blonde, Xiomara the short tanned girl with the pixie cut—and Scorpius was starting to think that hadn't been a coincidence. He was starting to realise he had, subconsciously, done everything he could to move on with a girl who decidedly _wasn't_ Rose Weasley—not in the slightest.

And that was the problem.

Because clearly, he had a type, right? Clearly, the only sort of girl he was really, deeply attracted to was one who looked like Rose. He had been trying to be something he wasn't. And trying to go after something he didn't really want.

But Scorpius, though he'd decided several times to give up on his pointless pursuit, felt a rush at the thought of _one last experiment._ And if this didn't work then he knew he was doomed. He would be doomed forever to love a girl who would never again love him back and live out his life in misery and heartbreak.

But if it _worked…_

A few weeks into September, the start of his sixth year, Scorpius was on the hunt for one last girl. One last kiss. And this time he wanted someone who looked as close to Rose Weasley as possible. Why not? If he couldn't have her, why not have the next best thing? Someone who _looked_ like her.

It was vain beyond belief, and really quite arrogant, but Scorpius felt desperate, and he was so assured this might just work.

But he encountered a huge problem very early into his mission. It wasn't that he couldn't find girls who looked like Rose, it was just that they were all related to her. Lily Potter, perhaps, was the most similar. Her hair was shorter and lighter in colour, and the freckles that adorned her face weren't as abundant, nor were her eyes the same colour as Rose's, but beneath all that, they were one and the same.

Sort of.

But Scorpius didn't want to kiss Lily. _He already had, after all._ He _knew_ Lily too well, and she was his little sister's best friend for crying out loud! And he just… wasn't attracted to her. Sure, the similarities were there but he was already too close to her.

And that was a problem. Because the girls who looked closest to Rose were—well—her cousins, and that wasn't a line he wanted to cross. Selfish though he might have been in his recent behaviour, Scorpius thought that really would be the ultimate knife in the back to Rose. If there was _ever_ going to be a future for them, and he so desperately hoped there might be, he was not going to help himself by involving himself romantically with any of her relatives. _That_ would be a tough one to explain.

But the answer came to him in a quick and pleasant way soon after he'd decided to embark on this particular mission.

Prefect meetings had become particularly uncomfortable for Scorpius since ending things with Rose the previous year. Truth be told, he hadn't ever really desired the role, simply because he thought he'd never even be considered. But he had been pleasantly surprised when he'd been sent the badge a summer ago, and even more so when he discovered Ebony would be his Slytherin counterpart. It had provided a strange dynamic between him and Rose though, with her losing out on the role everybody (including herself) had expected her to assume. Maybe things would have been different had him and Rose been Prefects together. Maybe that extra time together would have strengthened their relationship. Maybe Rose's presence at Prefect meetings would have prevented him from getting so close to Ebony.

But Scorpius could not dwell on the 'what might have been.' Because it hadn't happened. Rose had not been made a Prefect. But he and Ebony had, and they had gotten closer because of it, and he had strayed from Rose and betrayed her in the cruellest way.

But since starting Sixth Year, Scorpius had not even considered the discomfort Prefect meetings would now provide. Things were still not completely easy between him and Ebony. They had barely spent any time together over the summer, and since their brief 'relationship' and quick breakup, it was difficult to say where they stood. Scorpius also knew he couldn't pretend he was thrilled by the idea of whatever kind of relationship Ebony shared with James Potter. Did she not recall what a vicious idiot Potter was? Attractive he may be, and skilled on a broom, but had she forgotten that time he had repetitively hurled Stunning Hexes at Scorpius when he was disarmed, and in a very public setting?

The unease of that memory drew Scorpius' eyes to another boy, sat across the circle from him. It was only a week into the new school year, and this was the first meeting Bobbin had called. Scorpius wasn't even listening to her as she introduced the new fifth-year Prefects, but was instead distracted by the presence of one Samuel Tyler.

Scorpius was displeased that Sam seemed to play such a prominent role in his life. It was bad enough that he'd been a close friend of Rose's and had such an intense crush on her that it frequently challenged and compromised Scorpius' own relationship with Rose, but then he'd found out he'd been made Gryffindor Prefect, and then, just to really piss Scorpius off, joined the Gryffindor Quidditch team. He had never liked the boy, and now he seemed incapable, even after Rose had left his life, to shake him off too. Sam and Scorpius, though they had never been friends, and never even truly made peace so much as simply tolerated each other in Rose's presence, had not even spoken to each other since Scorpius had snidely told Sam that Rose was 'all his' the morning he'd broken up with her.

Scorpius only hoped that Rose had had the sense _not_ to be romantically involved with Sam, despite what Scorpius had told the boy. He did not think he could bear the pain. The thought of Rose with anyone sickened him. But Rose with _Sam?_ Scorpius felt for sure he'd have to leave Hogwarts if that ever happened, as self-centred as his thought process was.

"We've decided to, ah, _not_ repeat last year's trial of a 'Prefect's Ball' to start off the new year," Bobbin was announcing to the circle of Prefects. Scorpius could have sworn she glanced towards himself and Ebony with an uncomfortable look about her, and Scorpius didn't need to look at Ebony to know they were both red in the face.

It had been at Bobbin's ball last year—an innocent trial of an event in which to introduce the new Prefects to the rest of the school—that Scorpius and Ebony had shared their first kiss. In front of Rose. Whilst Scorpius had still been in a relationship with her.

Scorpius tried to brush it off. He could not blame the ball alone. Had he and Ebony not kissed then, he was sure they would have done so in a different situation. He and Rose would have ended things one way or another; it had been inevitable. But still, Scorpius was grateful any such ball would not be repeated. The memories would be too strong, too painful.

But Merlin's beard, had it really been almost a year? A _whole_ year since the fateful ball that had led to the end of his relationship, and Scorpius _still_ wasn't over Rose? He almost felt embarrassed, but it wasn't like anybody besides himself knew the truth.

Scorpius looked up at that point to notice not one but two angry faces glaring at him. Sam was to be expected, but Scorpius had almost forgotten his irritating blonde counterpart. Janey. She was like a Gryffindor replica of Jinx and yet somehow _more_ annoying. Again, it wasn't like they'd really been friends before all the drama, more such people who just tolerated each other's company for the sake of their respective relationship with Rose. But since that was over, so were any such pleasant pretences that might have existed between them. Janey very much openly loathed Scorpius.

Which was why he had not particularly enjoyed Prefect meetings over the last year. Things with Ebony were uncomfortable, and Sam and Janey both despised him without any qualms. Why would he want to be in such an uncomfortable situation every other week? And it wasn't like he particularly enjoyed the company of the other Prefects.

Scorpius looked around the circle, glancing at each one of them in turn, completely ignoring whatever Bobbin was talking about. The Ravenclaws were pleasant enough. A brother and sister who were a little uptight, but nice enough people. The boy, Henry, was a good Quidditch player, so Scorpius appreciated him for that, and the girl, Isabella, was very pretty, if not a little high-maintenance. It was one of the reasons he'd not pursued her as a romantic interest. Isabella, though pleasant on the eyes, seemed like she'd be a lot of work. Unlike Scorpius, she took her Prefect responsibilities incredibly seriously. And she looked a little like Ebony. With her long raven hair and midnight blue eyes, Isabella Fontayne was like a watered-down version of what Scorpius considered to be one of the prettiest girls Hogwarts had to offer.

But what didn't go amiss to Scorpius was the way in which Sam was eyeing her up. Eyeing her up in a way he'd used to look at Rose. Scorpius' attention was hooked, and he couldn't resist a slight smirk. Was there something there? Was something happening between Isabella and Sam, or was he merely just getting moon-eyed over another girl who was out of his league? It was almost enough for Scorpius to suddenly _want_ to pursue Isabella—simply to spite Sam.

Why not?

Scorpius had taken Rose when Sam had wanted her. He'd taken Ebony in the same way. And if Sam was now growing fond of Isabella, wouldn't it be fun to snatch her away from him too?

But Scorpius knew that was unnecessarily vindictive. What did he prove to gain from competing with and belittling Sam? And all the while potentially hurting Isabella in the process? Scorpius suddenly felt sick. Ashamed of who he had seemingly become. Just a boy who competed with other boys and messed around with girls' affection for kicks. The epitome of what all the other houses believed the Slytherins to be.

Another thought flickered into Scorpius' mind. Sam had always proven to be his main competition when it came to Rose. He was the only one who had been as hopelessly and obsessively besotted with her as Scorpius himself had been. And if _he_ could get over Rose—have his affections drawn to another girl—then maybe, just maybe Scorpius could achieve the same. Whether or not Sam and Isabella's relationship would progress to anything other than fellow Prefects, perhaps it really was possible to get over Rose Weasley.

It was at that point that Annabel walked in. And Scorpius suddenly found himself sitting up, his attention piqued.

Annabel, whose surname Scorpius had never seemed to learn, gushed her apologies to Professor Bobbin for her lateness before settling into the empty seat beside Hufflepuff counterpart Tom. Like the Ravenclaw Prefects, Scorpius found the Hufflepuffs, Annabel and Tom, pleasant enough people, but he'd never dwelled on them much or considered them friends. He'd never really gelled with Hufflepuffs that much. They were kind, sure, but they lacked drive. They lacked integrity. Nobody was _that_ nice, surely.

But then again, Scorpius considered, maybe that was just his Slytherin prejudice.

But he was looking at Annabel now. _Really_ looking at her. He was looking at the dark red hair that fell in front of her shoulders, so long it nearly touched her waist, thick and beautiful. He was looking at the few freckles smattered across her nose. He was looking at the intense blue of her eyes.

He was looking, he thought wickedly, at his next snog. His final solution to the problem that had plagued him for almost a year. He was looking at the girl he was going to finally, _finally_ get over Rose Weasley with.

And maybe if Scorpius had been paying more attention to what Bobbin was saying, and less to pondering whether or not there was the possibility that Annabel and Rose were related (they were both redheads, after all, and he couldn't be sure—had he ever really met a redhead who _wasn't_ a Weasley?), he would have been aware of her announcing who the new Head Girl and Boy were and not almost fallen off his chair when James Potter sauntered into the room, late of course.

Scorpius did not know what alarmed him more: the fact that _James Potter_ was Head Boy, the fact that Professor Bobbin had willingly _chosen_ James Potter to be Head Boy, or the loving and delighted way in which Ebony was staring at the Gryffindor boy.

Either way, he was pissed. If Scorpius had thought being a Prefect had granted him any kind of authority or respect within the school, James Potter now being Head Boy compromised that all. Could he not escape this family? All he wanted was distance from Rose, and that included her annoying friends and her idiot cousin. But maybe it was punishment, Scorpius thought, for how cruelly he had treated Rose. Maybe he deserved a constant reminder of what a lousy boyfriend—what a lousy _human_ —he had been.

But the meeting drew to a close, and, keen to avoid Potter, Scorpius hurried from the room. He was startled to have crashed into someone just outside the door, and then even more startled to discover it was the redheaded Hufflepuff he'd been so desiring earlier.

"Annabel," Scorpius blurted out, immediately losing any charm he thought he might have possessed.

Had he gotten cocky?—he feared. Had he been arrogant to assume he could have any girl he so desired? Because in that moment, Scorpius was at a total loss for words. What was he supposed to do? What was he supposed to say in order to charm her into an innocent kiss? Maybe he needn't say anything at all. Maybe he just needed to lean down and go for it…

"Scorpius? Are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah, err, sorry about that," Scorpius said sheepishly, coming to his senses.

You couldn't just _kiss_ people with no reason. But he was so desperate. So desperate to see if his redhead theory would work. Annabel and Rose were almost exactly the same height, he realised.

"Do you want to go somewhere?"

"Me?" Annabel asked in alarm. "And you?"

"Sure," Scorpius said, deeply unsure of his tactics. "I, err, I could walk you back to your common room?"

Annabel stared at Scorpius as though he'd just declared he'd like to drop out of Hogwarts and become a ballerina. But Scorpius was nervously glancing at the door to the room he'd just barrelled from. He didn't want Bobbin, Sam, Janey, James, Ebony, _anybody_ watching him as he attempted to flirt with this girl. The sooner he whisked her away, the better. But where Scorpius had mistaken Annabel for a sweet, polite wallflower-type-girl, he'd been sorely mistaken. She was clearly just as stubborn and feisty as Rose had always been.

 _Must be a redhead thing._

"Or, you know, just a walk around the castle? The grounds?" Scorpius was getting anxious now. He could hear voices near the door. Even him just talking to Annabel alone would raise suspicion. He didn't want James to goad him, or Ebony to be offended that he was chatting up girls right in front of her. And what if Sam or Janey told Rose?

"I'm alright, thanks," Annabel said drily, folding her arms.

Scorpius was further alarmed. Was she really not taking the bait at all? Not even a little?

"But—"

"Look, I'm waiting for—"

But the voices had gotten louder, and Scorpius panicked, and every sense seemed to shut down completely, every vague ounce of wisdom gone from his being, as he leant down without thought and kissed the girl with her arms still folded straight on the lips as though it was wanted or even expected.

But, as Scorpius quickly learnt, hands tangling into hair that felt as familiar as Rose's, mouth against a mouth that, although sweet enough, tasted _nothing_ like Rose's, it was decidedly not expected and even more so _not_ wanted.

Because the instant his lips had collided with hers, before he could even gauge whether or not this kiss was enough to cure him of his heartbreak over Rose, Scorpius was pushed away with great vigour, a vicious hand slapped across his face.

He was quite simply startled. And he wondered whether he looked more or less startled than Annabel herself did. Or the crowd of people who had just exited the room behind him and witnessed the whole ordeal.

But Annabel's pretty face, initially startled, quickly morphed into one of fury, and with a tongue as vicious as her slap had been, she completed the sentence Scorpius had not allowed her to finish.

"—my _boyfriend._ "

Scorpius' head turned. Tom, the kindly Hufflepuff Prefect, who Scorpius had only _just_ remembered was dating Annabel, and had been for some time, looked startled rather than angry. But he did not wish to hang around to find out how long that lasted.

Ebony was looking at Scorpius like she didn't know who he was anymore, and it was that, rather than the amused look on James Potter's face, or the concerned look on Bobbin's, or the furious look on Sam's, that made Scorpius realise he might have gone too far. He might have finally crossed a line so beyond desperate, so beyond unacceptable, that he had to re-evaluate his whole sorry situation. And maybe that would be the best for everybody involved.

"Scorpius, I think we should talk."

Scorpius almost would have been embarrassed by Ebony talking to him like he was a disobedient child in front of so many people whose opinion of him he unwittingly valued if he hadn't completely agreed with her. "I, err—"

But Ebony was marching him away before he could figure out just what he might say to explain any part of the situation he'd just gotten himself into. She walked swiftly, purposefully, marching him down the corridor in a way so eerily reminiscent of Professor Bobbin that Scorpius had to do a double-take to ensure it wasn't actually the headmistress. Once they were safely in a deserted corridor, she spun him around.

"What the hell is going on?"

"Look, you caught me at an awkward moment, but me and Annabel had _great_ chemistry and I clearly just misread the situation—"

"Scorpius, don't be an idiot," Ebony snapped. "You've barely spoken to Annabel the whole past year we've been Prefects together, you've never looked at her twice, never shown the slightest bit of interest in her—you don't even know her second name!"

"But I—"

"And you _know_ she's been dating Tom for over a year. What on earth could have possessed you to _kiss_ her?"

"I _forgot_ about Tom, okay? It was an innocent mistake—he doesn't say a lot!"

Ebony just continued to glare, unconvinced in the slightest. "Scorpius, I am your oldest and closest friend," she reminded him in a fierce whisper. "And I know I haven't been around for you as much as I should have since, well…" She trailed off, blushing faintly.

"Since we attempted and failed to have a relationship?" Scorpius finished for her, raising his eyebrows sarcastically.

Ebony just rolled her eyes. "I know I should have supported you more, I should have been the kind of friend I always have been. But I was—"

"Distracted," Scorpius went on ruthlessly, thinking he might finally call her out on whatever ridiculous relationship she and James shared.

"Call it what you want," she said through gritted teeth, "but at least I've been _happy._ "

Scorpius was stunned. He wasn't sure how to process what Ebony had said. Was she been cruel? Vindictive? Or just honest?

"And I don't think, for a second," she continued, her tone softening, her eyes watching him with sadness, "that you have been."

"Since we broke up?" Scorpius asked in confusion. He thought he and Ebony had had a silent kind of understanding—that their relationship hadn't been real, that their feelings hadn't ever been genuine.

And then she spoke the words that cut through him like a knife. "Since you broke up with _Rose._ "

Silence fell between them. Scorpius suddenly felt desperately alone in that corridor. Even with Ebony right there. Even in a school full of a thousand students. He just felt desperately alone.

"Scorpius, I might not have been as present in your life as I should have been, but I've been around enough to see that you're miserable. And don't think I haven't noticed all the girls. The girl at your party, that random Hufflepuff girl, _Lyra_ of all people—"

"Why shouldn't I kiss Lyra?" Scorpius cut in, suddenly angry. Who was Ebony to shame him for kissing all those girls? He wasn't hurting anyone, he wasn't betraying anyone. So why shouldn't he?

Ebony didn't falter. "Well, for starters, she's a lesbian." She paused to give Scorpius a condemning glare. He said nothing, unsure of what _to_ say. "And secondly, you hate her!"

"I don't _hate_ her."

"Oh, yes, you do, Scorpius!" Ebony laughed. "We _all_ do. And Lyra aside, since _when_ have you gone for Hufflepuffs? That girl in the library—"

"Harriet."

"—and now _Annabel?_ "

"It's not a… Hufflepuff thing," Scorpius insisted, shifting uncomfortably from one foot to the other."

"Then _what,_ Scorpius?" Ebony asked desperately. "You've never been the type to just randomly snog girls. And that's four, and Merlin knows how many others, since we ended things last year."

"Give me one good reason why I _shouldn't_ be kissing girls," Scorpius challenged, angry now at Ebony's intervention. "I'm not in a relationship and, ah, discounting the incident just now, they haven't been either. And look, I didn't know that Lyra was, err—"

"Oh, Scorpius, it's not about that," Ebony cried. "It's not about the girls, it's about _you._ "

"About me, how?" Scorpius asked, feeling uneasy. Could he bear to hear Ebony speak the truth, plain and straight to him? He had avoided it for so long. On the outside at least.

"You have been miserable since you broke up with Rose! And I know _why_ , okay? I know why you ended it, I know why you needed what you and I had for that brief moment, and I can't condemn you for that because ultimately it was what we all needed." She took a shaky breath. "But this isn't going to help you. I know you can't be with Rose in the way that you want. Not right now. But _snogging_ your way around the entire school isn't going to make any of this any easier."

"Ebony, that's not why—"

"It _is_ why!" she furiously interrupted. "And maybe you can't admit that to me, but at least admit it to yourself! If you want to kiss random girls—and they actually want to kiss you in return," she added with narrowed eyes, both of them thinking of the mishap no less than five minutes ago, "then that's fine, okay? That's _good._ But only if you're doing it for the right reasons. And, at the moment, I don't think you are. I think you're doing it to try and forget. To try and numb the pain of what you've lost, of what you can't have."

Scorpius had nothing to say. Because what else could he say? Ebony had said it all. She had laid him open and read him like a book. And he knew, deep down, that she was right. That all those pitiful experiences had been with one goal in mind, all of which had been unsuccessful. Nothing could numb the pain. No girl could kiss away the memory of Rose Weasley.

When Scorpius next spoke it was in a weak, lost, _desperate_ voice. "Ebony, I don't know what to do." And he thought he might cry right there and then. In front of her. The cardinal sin of any Slytherin. To reveal oneself in their weakest, most vulnerable state.

But Ebony had pulled him close before the tears could spill. And it felt like coming home. It felt like something he hadn't felt in a long time. And it was amazing, Scorpius thought, that something as simple as an embrace could make one feel so warm, so safe.

"You need _this_ ," Ebony said softly, giving him one final squeeze before releasing him.

Scorpius hadn't stared into those mossy green eyes that close for quite some time. He missed the kindness that shone from within them. "But," he said in confusion, " _we_ didn't work. Not like that."

"I didn't _mean_ like that," Ebony snorted, half amusement, half alarm. "I meant _friendship_ ," she clarified. "With me, and Albireo, and Jinx, and _Albus._ You just need to belong, Scorpius. To be wanted, to be _loved_. And," she hesitated, kind eyes suddenly full of sorrow, "I've been failing you in that sense."

It was amazing, Scorpius thought, that he had always considered himself to be the strong one in their friendship. _He_ was the rock, _he_ was the hero, and it was he who comforted Ebony when she was feeling vulnerable or emotional. And yet, that wasn't the case at all. He needed her just as much as she needed him. Sometimes he needed to be the vulnerable one, and maybe that was okay. Maybe it was okay to ask for help when he needed it.

Scorpius, for so long now, had been looking for another girl to replace Rose. Which was stupid, really, because Rose was irreplaceable, and because of that, he had set himself an impossible task from the off, of which failure was inevitable and imminent. It was not romance he should have been pursuing. He _had_ needed love to heal him, but it had not been in the form of a new companion, but rather his old companions. His true companions. His _friends._

He had lost a lot of himself when he'd lost Rose, which was unsurprising given how intense their relationship had been. And he had been looking to recover that in all the wrong places.

And true, Scorpius was not giving up on romance. He would love again, he knew it. And if he was lucky, it would be true. But Ebony was right. His string of girls might have been a lifestyle another boy would have happily embraced, but it wasn't him. Scorpius couldn't lie and say he hadn't _enjoyed_ kissing so many girls. They had all, in some way, meant something to him, and maybe he'd needed such dismal failure to come to his senses and realise this really wasn't going to help him overcome the only girl he was sure he'd loved.

His cheek still stinging from the excellent slap Annabel had given him, Scorpius and Ebony headed down the corridor to return to the Slytherin Common Room. Only one other girl had slapped him. Rose. And he had deserved that one too.

Scorpius smiled at the memory. For the first time since their breakup, he found himself smiling at a memory of him and Rose. It wasn't much, but it was enough. It was a _start._

Scorpius barely overlapped with his five girls again.

He never had known who the mysterious brunette Slytherin he'd snogged at his sixteenth birthday party was.

He saw Lyra frequently, but they barely even looked at each other, let alone spoke. He once thought he saw her smile at him. And maybe he returned it.

Harriet, being in Hufflepuff and being in the year below, overlapped with Scorpius incredibly little. But when she did, whether they were just passing in the corridor or sat across from each other in the library, he made sure to smile. She almost always shyly returned it.

Scorpius never returned to work at Dervish and Banges. In fact, he tried to avoid the shop at all costs. He always sent his father instead.

And Annabel? Well, given that they _were_ Prefects together, she was more difficult to avoid. But Tom was a good sport, and Annabel, despite having a mean slap, was an incredibly kind girl. Scorpius never mocked Hufflepuffs for their empathy again. And he and Annabel never spoke of the incident again—the inadvertent kiss and sequential slap. They merely acted as though it had never happened. Annabel told no one, and neither did Scorpius. Not even a year later when Annabel and Tom had gone their separate ways and she entered into a relationship with Albus Potter. In Scorpius' case, _especially_ then.

And Scorpius did not dwell. He had tried, in vain, to achieve the impossible—to get over Rose Weasley. But there _was_ no getting over Rose Weasley, and he was okay with that. Five girls were quite enough, and to be honest, all the kissing had been exhausting. (Or so he tried to convince himself).

Scorpius had come to realise one painful but undeniable truth. And that was that there was only one girl he could possibly get over Rose Weasley with. And that was not the five girls who weren't her.

There was only one. There had only ever been one.

And that _was_ Rose Weasley.


	8. One Girl Who Was

**Chapter 8 – One Girl Who Was**

* * *

He and Rose were on the run.

 _At that moment, muffled voices could be heard. Both of them froze. Wherever the voices were coming from, they were slowly getting louder. Rose whipped her head around, trying to find the source of the voices. They were at the end of the street, coming straight towards them._

 _"Scorpius," Rose gasped in a panic, clutching at his shirt._

Scorpius tried not to be alarmed by the physical contact—now was not the time. He had felt uneasy around her ever since setting foot in Rosewood. In fact, ever since he had waltzed back, unexpected and uninvited, into her life a month or so ago.

But he couldn't help it. It was the sight of Albus and Ebony hurriedly conversing with each other that first tipped him off. His two best friends and yet they'd never really been that close to each other—so why, all of a sudden, were they sharing secrets? Whispering together like they were the closest of friends?

And when he had, rather abruptly, confronted them about it, it had not taken long for both of them to spill _everything._ Everything about Evangeline, the situation with her parents, the plan they were already trying to form to get to Rosewood.

 _Rosewood._

The name hit Scorpius like a Stinging Hex. He knew that place. He had been there; his family owned a house there. And once he'd conveyed that to Ebony and Albus, he knew he was in. There was no going back, he was a part of it now.

But that wasn't strictly true. It had not been _Rosewood_ , per se, that had piqued Scorpius' interest in their little mission. It had not been the promise of danger, of adventure, of doing something wild and exciting and worthwhile. It had been just one mention. One name.

 _Rose._

If Rose was involved, which _of course_ she was, then Scorpius knew he had to be too.

It had been a year and a half since he'd ended things with her. It had been a year and a half since all the mess with Ebony. It had been eight months since he'd spontaneously kissed Annabel after the Prefect meeting and otherwise since given up on his hopeless pursuit of a means to get over Rose.

And yet, in his own way, he had. Scorpius was older, more at on one with himself, more confident, _happier._ He had put his all into his studies, and Quidditch, and his friends, and he was truly better for it. He had grown up, and he had done it on his own, and he couldn't have been prouder.

And because he hadn't been actively _trying_ to get over Rose, he quite simply just _had._ Because one thing he'd learnt is that if you were trying to force something to happen, it almost certainly wouldn't.

Maybe he was not 'over' Rose, maybe it was not truly possible, not for him anyway, to ever be 'over' her, but he had at least found peace in the situation. In his own way, he had moved on.

So when mention of her involvement in the so-called 'Rosewood Mission' was made aware to him, how could he not get involved himself? He was ready, he knew. He was ready to re-enter her life, even if that was just as a friend. He felt certain in his own emotions, that it would not be painful and uncomfortable for them to be around each other, but pleasant, and maybe even, if he was lucky, _friendly._ He just wanted her in his life again. In whatever form that was. Even if that was just as friends. Because if it came down to having Rose in his life and _not_ having her in his life, he was going to choose her every time. Maybe he could no longer have her the way that his heart truly desired, but a life that involved Rose Weasley in any way was good in his books.

And maybe, just maybe, if she felt the same way, they could start from scratch. If she too had made her peace, could bear to be around him in a pleasant manner, they could start again. As strangers, as friends, and then who knew what else? Maybe they could fall in love all over again. Properly this time.

It became apparent to Scorpius, though, the moment she walked into the Room of Requirement to be reunited with the boy who had broken her heart a year and a half ago, that she was _not_ over it. She had not forgiven him, she was not prepared to be pleasant to him, and, to Scorpius' wicked delight, she rather hated him.

And that's where the fun began.

 _They were two teenagers in a desolate street; attention would be drawn to them immediately, and they would look suspicious._

 _"Come on," Scorpius whispered hurriedly, making a beeline back down the street in the direction they'd come from._

 _"We should go back in the shop," Rose suggested._

 _"We can't," Scorpius dismissed. "The guy will definitely start asking questions, and what if they come in? We'd be trapped."_

Scorpius was doing his best not to panic. His delight at having found himself alone with Rose on their adventure was turning into a very real problem. Because if they were murdered by dark wizards, which, at this rate, was rather a horrifying but realistic possibility, he was never going to get anywhere with her. She would never forgive him, they would never be friends, and any slim chance that there _might_ be romance on the cards for them at some point in the future was just a wild and disillusioned fantasy.

And, in a sort of twisted way, they _had_ been making progress.

Scorpius knew it was selfish. He knew that his motives for coming on the mission were out of line. Had it to been to impress his parents, make a name for himself, protect Evangeline, form a closer friendship with the people who he had grown so fond of (yes, even James and Sam to an extent), then maybe he would have had no shame in dying at the hand of the dark wizards. He would have been dying for the cause. It would be a noble sacrifice.

And whilst all those things were undoubtedly important to Scorpius, it wasn't for any of those reasons that he'd offered his services. It was, of course, for her. It was only ever for her.

 _They quickened their pace. Any moment now the others would come into view and see them. They both knew what these people were capable of—what they were prepared to do. It seemed unlikely they'd just let Rose and Scorpius walk away._

Scorpius had adopted a personality around Rose he'd never even known he was capable of pulling off. He'd rather die than admit he'd been subconsciously channelling James Potter, but he'd grown a new confidence around Rose. A sort of cool, jokingly arrogant and flirtatious sort of persona, miles away from the scared little boy he'd been in their relationship previously. He was no longer afraid of what anyone thought, of what his parents, or Rose's family, or the rest of the school thought of him or his relationship with Rose. He was… free from that, to some degree. He no longer felt the pressure, he was no longer afraid of screwing up and losing everything he had.

Because he'd already done that. And if he had nothing to lose, what did he prove to gain from being a spineless coward anymore?

He enjoyed teasing Rose, flirting with her, poking fun at her hostility, spurred on by her exaggerated aggression towards him. She was still the fiery girl he'd known and loved, only now that fire was aimed at him rather than those who opposed him. And Scorpius loved it.

 _"Down here." Scorpius pulled Rose into an alleyway that went between two of the shops. "Maybe we can backtrack through here somehow."_

 _But as the two of them hurried through they realised, with sinking hearts, it was a dead-end._

 _"Scorpius, what are we going to do?" Rose asked in a panic, clutching at his shirt again. "They'll find us, they'll see us, they'll kill us!"_

Again, Scorpius knew he shouldn't have been dwelling on the fact that Rose was touching him, _grabbing_ at him like her life depended on it. She was scared, that was all. They could be exposed at any moment. They could be caught, attacked, _killed_. The danger was very real.

And yet, it was the closest they'd been in a long time and especially since coming to Rosewood. Physically and emotionally. He had forgotten what it was like to be so close to her, to smell the subtle waft of vanilla, to feel the tickle of that thick red hair.

There was a time for teasing, and Scorpius desperately hoped, though Rose was aggressive on the outside, inside she was deeply, wildly attracted to his new confident, funny persona and secretly yearned for their back-and-forth interactions (because if not, he was just a sad, mean creep, and he didn't think he could bear that), but this was different. This was _real._ She was scared and she was clinging to him, quite literally, for security, for comfort, for strength.

Merlin, he hoped they got out of there alive.

 _"Rose, they're not going to kill us," Scorpius said soothingly, remarkably calm considering how much she was freaking out. "We're going to stay here, alright? They'll likely go in one of the shops, or go down a different road or something. We'll just stay here until they're gone and then we'll make a break for it back into the woods."_

Scorpius couldn't be sure where this calm strength was coming from, nor whether he even believed the gentle assurances he was feeding Rose.

 _Rose nodded, trying to even her breathing again, but it was no use. These were dark wizards—dark wizards who were not above taking hostages and murdering people. It was true, they wouldn't know Rose and Scorpius had anything to do with Evangeline, but in a completely empty street, two teenagers were going to stick out and look greatly suspicious. What were Rose and Scorpius supposed to say if those people talked to them? What if they followed them back to the clearing in the woods?_

Scorpius, despite his calm exterior, a gentle hand to support Rose's back as she clung to his body, was starting to panic, but he'd die before he let Rose sense that. If they were caught cowering in an abandoned alley, he had no doubt they _would_ find themselves in some kind of trouble. So what to do? How to get out of it? They could make a run for it, but Scorpius feared it was too late for that; the dark wizards were already too close. And besides, if they headed back to the woods, they could very well land the rest of their friends in trouble. The whole mission would go up in flames.

Scorpius didn't want to risk apparition. Piper had warned them all against it. The dark magic the woods and indeed the whole of Rosewood exuded compromised certain types of magic, and apparition was dangerous enough as it was. Especially when you were as scared as Scorpius was trying not to be.

 _"Sc-Scorpius," Rose stuttered, leaning even closer into his body, "they're coming closer."_

 _The voices were getting unmistakably louder. Unless they turned into one of the shops anytime soon, they'd walk straight past the alleyway where Rose and Scorpius were cowering. Or, at least, where Rose was cowering and Scorpius was doing his best to keep calm._

 _Scorpius didn't reply. He was holding his breath, his stare fixed firmly at the end of the alley for signs of movement. It was a remarkably short alleyway, with not so much as a bin in it. They would be seen, without doubt, and unless they found a way to look like they had a perfectly justifiable reason for being there, they were going to be caught out._

They had to do something, but Scorpius was drawing a blank. Could thy fight? What if it came down to a duel? Could he and Rose really hold their own?

 _"Scorpius, they're coming closer!" Rose repeated with more urgency._

 _Scorpius was acting like he was hedging his bets, patiently waiting for them to go into one of the shops, but it became apparent they were, in fact, going to walk straight past. They were not pleasant voices, their tones were hard and sinister. They heard the words 'Rosewood Manor' drawled, painfully close. They were going to walk past at any second. She and Scorpius were sitting ducks._

 _"Think, Scorpius, think!"_ the blond boy internally yelled. There was no time left, they weren't getting out of the alleyway, they were definitely going to be seen. Was there time to disguise themselves? Did Scorpius even know how to perform a believable Disillusionment Charm?

Scorpius would be damned if he let Rose die, though. And if they were going to die together, they wouldn't do it cowering in fear. But he knew, though it pained him to think it, that they were no match for the dark wizards.

If they could not fight, and they could not disguise themselves, then they had to hide in plain sight. But why, _why_ , would two teenagers be hiding down a dark, abandoned alleyway? What possible, _believable_ reason could there be for that?

 _"They're so close," Rose whimpered. "Scorpius, they're right there! They're going to pass us at any second, they're going to—"_

Scorpius barely had time to think his plan through before he was forcefully putting it into action. He only hoped Rose would forgive him—that she would recognise he was only doing this to save their lives.

And he kissed her.

With a power he had not known he possessed, thinking only of how desperately he _couldn't let her die_ , he pushed her against the wall of the alleyway, barely having time to wince at the sound of her shoulder slamming against the stone.

She had not grown since the last time he'd kissed her, not physically. She was the same perfect height for him to bring his mouth down against hers, like magnets drawn together, like they had practised it a thousand times before.

For a brief moment, Scorpius was worried she'd react aggressively. He could only pray that she read his actions, that she would know what he was doing and not push him away or bring her hand across his face in alarm.

And even then, it was a long-shot. Two teenagers furiously snogging in an alley might have been somewhat justifiable, but there was no saying whether the dark wizards would merely let them be or still strike them down where they stood.

 _And if they did,_ Scorpius couldn't help but think, _maybe it wouldn't be so bad to die like this._

Scorpius knew it wasn't real, that although he may have been kissing Rose, it was all just a ploy. It was for their survival, it wasn't _real_.

And yet, he couldn't think about that. He couldn't think about anything.

Rose did not retaliate with aggression. She did not push him away, she did not exclaim in disgust and slap him clean across the face. He felt her surprise as their lips made contact, body stiffening in shock as he crashed against her. And as soon as it had sprung up, it melted away. Rose, to Scorpius' giddy delight, was kissing him back, like they'd never kissed before and simultaneously like they'd kissed a thousand times, two lovers at the height of passion.

 _Passion_. Merlin, that was the only way to describe it. All those other kisses meant nothing. Nothing. _Nothing_ compared to this. Nothing even came close to kissing Rose, and _definitely not like this._

Maybe it was because they were older, maybe it was because they'd been apart for so long, or maybe it was because Scorpius liked to think he'd gained some experience, but there was something decidedly more wild and exciting about the way they kissed in that alley. Scorpius thought of the way the older girl, Xo, had kissed him, hands and bodies.

Before, he'd always been so wary of touching Rose when they kissed, not wanting to push her out of her comfort zone, to go too far with her in case it was too much too soon. But any of that reserved gentlemanly politeness was gone, and not with any compassion.

Scorpius wound his hands through her hair, those thick, silky waves he had yearned for for over a year, but it wasn't enough. He brought them to her hips, her waist. He pulled her against him, driving both of their bodies up against the wall like they were one.

And Rose responded with just as much urgency, hands running through his hair, over his body, exploring each other with a wild, animalistic hunger.

She was a good actress, Scorpius thought. She had accepted the situation and responded to it with vigour. She was a smart girl.

And yet, though he knew he shouldn't, he couldn't help but allow his mind to entertain the possibility that this was real. That she was kissing him in that way because she wanted to, and not because it literally meant life or death.

And even though Scorpius too was kissing her to save their lives and not because he so desperately wanted to, he almost forgot it was artificial. He was not supposed to be feeling the things he was feeling, like he was coming home, like his heart had finally been healed, that it had reunited with the only one it had ever really beaten for.

It was a beautiful thing, to kiss someone you were in love with.

A kiss was just a kiss. It did not matter, fun though it might be, unless it was with someone your heart yearned for in the way his did for Rose Weasley. And Scorpius knew, in that moment, that whatever he had desperately tried to convince himself of, there was no one but her, and there would never be anyone but her.

He could kiss a thousand girls and it wouldn't mean a damn thing unless it was Rose.

They were not dead, he noted. They had not been killed, attacked, caught, yelled at, or any such thing they had feared. Either the dark wizards had seen them, amused, and felt no urge to intervene, or they had merely passed. Either way, Scorpius was sure they were alive. Even if kissing Rose felt like the contrary. Like he surely _had_ died and gone somewhere much better for it.

And if that was the case, Scorpius thought rationally, though it was very hard when all he could think about was how intoxicatingly good it felt to be kissing Rose again, then they were safe, and they needn't be kissing anymore.

With some reluctance, trying to remind himself with an icy sharpness that none of this was even real and that he shouldn't allow himself to get caught up in a delusion, no matter how sweet it was, Scorpius forcibly pushed himself away from Rose, as sharp and quick as ripping off a plaster.

 _Do not linger_ , he furiously ordered himself. _Do not even look at her, just walk away, act like nothing even happened._

And he did. He checked the alley was clear, that the dark wizards had well and truly passed, and once he was content, he returned to check on Rose. She looked dazed, lost, like she was unsure of what had just happened, and Scorpius found he couldn't read her anymore. He didn't know _why._

Had she felt anything for him? Had anything in her cold, closed-off heart been reawakened or did she still resent him? Had she merely just been playing her part with the expertise with which Rose Weasley always displayed?

Scorpius found he did not want to know. He did not want to discover that it had meant nothing to her, like it was supposed to have meant nothing to him. But _God_ , hadn't it been good? He could not help but feel a little triumphant in his own mind.

There could be no doubt, in his mind now. He could never kiss another girl again, not after that. And if it had meant nothing, if it had truly been nothing more than a desperate tactic on both their parts to save their own lives, Scorpius could only be grateful that he had gotten one last taste of the girl he had failed to forget.

And as he looked at her, the two of them strolling back through the woods, a little dazed, a little uneasy, Scorpius found he didn't know where they stood. But that was okay. Maybe they were destined for each other, and maybe they weren't, but there was something there. Something brief, like a candle flickering in the darkness, that had illuminated their whole lives if only just for a few more moments.

Rose and Scorpius' story was not over yet, he knew. If anything, a new chapter had just begun.

And it was the only story he was interested in. The one of her, and of him, and their struggles and triumphs, their love and misunderstanding, their kisses and their arguments, their danger, their betrayal, their beautiful, optimistic affections.

As they continued, Scorpius found he could not help but feel himself smiling. It was amazing, really, that one person could make him feel so happy, make him feel so much like himself. Whether kissing, whether arguing, or whether just silently walking side-by-side in a dark forest. Whatever lay ahead, Scorpius wanted her in his life, and only hoped she might just want him too, in any form that took.

Because she was well and truly his everything. Just one girl.

One girl who meant more to him than anything in the world, who made him feel safe, and happy, and reckless all at the same time, who filled his life with excitement and adventure, who tested him, who challenged him, who helped him overcome every fear he had ever faced. Who taught him what it meant to love. To truly, deeply love. Just one girl.

And that girl was Rose Weasley.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note:** Did I say tomorrow? Oh, I meant one year later XD_

 _WHERE TO BEGIN!? I don't even know how to apologise for going off the grid for literally a whole year, that honestly was never my intention. This story was supposed to be just a sweet little Forbidden Love completion anniversary gift to you guys, and by trying to write and publish it all in a week, I kind of shot myself in the foot. One day later turned into several days later, which turned into weeks later, which turned into months later, which by, at that point, I'd sort of given up. But as the two-year anniversary approached (TWO YEARS!? IT'S BEEN TWO YEARS SINCE I FINISHED A FORBIDDEN LOVE!?), I desperately wanted to complete this project I'd been so enthusiastic about. So... with all that waiting, I hope you're at least a little satisfied with the conclusion XD_

 _My avid readers will also notice that Honeymoon Avenue (my Sam and Janey spin-off) went on a complete hiatus too, and I must apologise for that as well. I have not abandoned that story, and I fully intend to pick it up later this year (maybe even this summer) and see it through to completion. I will never leave any work unfinished (no matter how damn long it takes me). I have my reasons. Firstly, real life: I moved last year, and I started my university degree, so everything kind of changed for me and that all had to take priority. Secondly, I was competing in the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition, so any time I had free to write was devoted to that. But the main reason has been, quite simply, that something just didn't feel right. It was SO easy to write A Forbidden Love because I knew the story inside and out within my own imagination, I'd spent years cultivating it in my mind, and I just loved writing it. Honeymoon Avenue felt slightly distant to me. For several reasons. I was writing from different character's perspectives, and I'd gotten so used to writing primarily via Rose and Scorpius, and I knew them inside and out, that it was more challenging for me to switch to brand new characters I'd never fully explored in such detail before. And that story is more mundane, it's more about real-life situations, relationships and such, and less about the magic of Hogwarts and all that that encompasses that, again, it just felt off. I had a plan (I do have a plan) for where the story was going but it was harder to piece together, it was much more challenging, and because of the pressure of updating every week and keeping to a strict schedule, I felt I wouldn't do the story justice if I rushed it to meet those time demands. I want that story to be just as engaging as A Forbidden Love was, and that requires me to take a step back, re-assess, and give it the attention it deserves._

 _BUT, now that I've been working on THIS mini story, re-immersing myself in the world I so love and the wonderful characters I (and technically JK Rowling XD) created, I feel ready to pick that story up again and move forward._

 _Thank you guys for all your patience, I know it was two years ago, but your response to Rose and Scorpius: A Forbidden Love and the few spin-offs I've done since then honestly means so much to me. Even now, I still get the odd review and it makes me light up. To have that kind of response to something I created is truly wonderful, and I'm glad I can give something back to you in the form of these types of stories._

 _And so I have a favour to ask. What do YOU want to see? I have so much planned to carry on with this 'franchise' but I don't want to keep you all waiting as long as I've made you wait so far. I would love to be able to write a few short (and this time I mean short) random little spin-offs. Little one-shot stand-alones that continue to explore this world and these characters and their situations. So please please either review or PM me and say what you'd like to see. Which characters you want to see more of, any specific situations (first kisses, first dates, literally ANYTHING), any specific songs you'd like to see translated into a story (because y'all know how much I love to take inspiration from music) and, within reason, I'd love to write them for you. Please be respectful of me as an author though, I'll only write things within reason and things that I feel I WANT to write. Keep it short, keep it simple, and I'll see what inspires me :)_

 _SO, with all that being said, once again I'd like to apologise for promising a day's wait and then turning that into a year. What DID you think of this story in its completion (or do you just not care at this point XD)? I love you all, Honeymoon Avenue WILL be resumed, and keep a look-out for potential ScoRose-related stories throughout the summer and the rest of the year. I promise I'll try and do my best :D_

 _(Oh, and back to this chapter—the italicised extracts are all from Chapter 171 of Rose and Scorpius: A Forbidden Love as that's the situation it overlaps with. It has been two years, after all, I don't want to confuse you!) Thank you, wonderful readers!_

 _~ Ever_


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